You were born during a strange and fleeting heat wave in October. The night before your birth, miles away, I dreamed of your mother, round and bursting with life. You were born after a tumultuous September, and we looked to you as a green promise, a warm wind of hopefulness and light.
You were born into a family that will love you not sweetly, but fiercely. In many ways, we are more like a clan, a tribe, than a family. We brandish our last name like a flag and we will hold you up and sing your praises. We are boisterous people, kind, intuitive people, deeply connected with the other world, with the family members who are no longer here, but who guided you into your mother's arms. They are all around us, and you will feel them- when you are afraid, when you need strength, when you feel alone.
If I could tell you anything, offer you some small piece of advice, it would be this: life is full of all the lessons you need. Be aware of what is being shown to you, listen, and hold your mistakes in your hands like precious stones before tossing them aside and moving on. They are your most valuable possessions, but they weigh you down if you dwell on them.
Your life is a unique experience and no matter how much a person knows, only you are the expert in your own existence. Be receptive to the knowledge of others, but know that you are free to adapt what you learn to your own idea of self, your own path. The singularity of your existence is amazing- you are unlike any creature to ever walk the Earth. Embrace this as an opportunity to be unapologetically and wholly yourself, whoever that becomes.
No matter what, you are loved.
—Tressa
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