I find it no coincidence that on this day exactly 22 years ago, not only was the love of her life and my Number Five child (in order of arrival in my atmosphere) born, so too was the BAND of her lifetime, “Three Days Grace“! With that, and in keeping with the epic love story they’re already writing, I’ll just drop the words to her “soul song” … “Life Starts Now”:

Dear Daughter,

You used to say that you felt so down every time I turned around, and you’ve said you should’ve been gone by now. You used to think that everything was wrong, would often ask me how to carry on. Still, we’ve both made it through so many dark days and just … held … on! But LIFE STARTS NOW! You’ve done all the things that could kill you somehow, and you’re so far down, but you will survive it somehow … because life starts now. I’ve hated it every time I watched you fall down, then tried the best I could to pick you back up off the ground. I watched the weight of your world come down too many times to count. Now it’s your chance to move on and change the way that you’ve lived for so long. You’ve found the strength you had inside all along … and LIFE STARTS NOW! All of that pain? Take this life with that boy God blessed you with on the same day this band of your lifetime was born and make it yours! I love you, Daughter! And I love you, too, Number Five! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I thank God every day that you showed up in all our lives not just in “this time”, but twenty two years ago! What are the chances that two of her FAVORITE things would be born on the same day? IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS!

~ Mom