Happy (almost) Birthday!

Hey kid,

Well, tomorrow is our birthday. We’ll be 39. Can you believe it? That might sound really old to you now, but trust me, it doesn’t feel old.

It’s been a while, so I wanted to take some time to catch you up on a few things. First, we grow up to be a writer! It wasn’t obvious. You’re going to end up taking a lot of tests over the years. You’ll even be placed in something called the gifted program. As you go through middle school, high school, and college (twice), you’ll have the same lingering question: 

Gifted to do what?

They’re going to make something called the internet. I really don’t know how it works—it seems kinda magical—but it’s going to play a big role in helping you become a writer and teacher!

You know those Highlights books you see at the IGA checkout line with Mom Mom? Guess who becomes a writing fellow! Cool, right? What’s really special about that is we will meet new Muslim friends who are creative and just like us in more ways than you can imagine. 

There’s so much more that I want to tell you, but I don’t want to spoil it all for you. I will tell you that things get better. 

We will grow less shy when talking to people. We find a way to use our words in a way that makes people happy. It will make you SO happy. We will love, lose hope, gain courage, and love again. We will have a lot of stress and even more success. 

There will be tears—sometimes a lot. There will be laughter—sometimes a lot. There will be times when you feel like you should be doing more, and that’s when we will remind you to enjoy each and every moment. We can do a lot of things, but we can’t do it all. We’re not supposed to. We will find our community, and it is filled with many others who also want to create a kind and beautiful world. They will surround and support us at different times when our paths align, much like this.

Ashley as a child surrounded by dolls--stuffed and unstuffed.

Most importantly, I wanted you to know that we never stop believing in happily ever afters. I love that for us. 

Love,

Yourself.

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