Your father

he loves to tell the story

of how the nurses had to part your hair with a comb

after you were born

 

I love the part

when my water broke at midnight

and your dad

fast asleep on the hospital cot next to me

nearly broke his neck jumping out of bed

thinking you were about to make your appearance

(haha! if only it were that easy!)

and

that I waited nearly 17 hours before I finally gave in

and begged the doctor for an epidural

(It makes me feel like a badass to say that)

 

But these are

just tiny details

in a life-changing day

for two young, awkward people in love

who thought they knew everything

only to find out

they knew absolutely nothing at all

 

I cannot sum up our 11 glorious years with you

in a simple blog post

or a complex poem

 

I rely on words every single day of my life

but when it comes to expressing

how I feel about you

what you mean to me

how the world took on new meaning entirely the moment you entered it

words elude me Andrew

and I find myself

uncharacteristically

speechless

 

I suppose

the closest I can come

(with mere consonants and vowels at my disposal)

is that

ME

became

WE

that

LIFE

became

LOVE

that

I had no idea

I had been holding my breath

until

you came

and set it

free

 

That

we

were

merely living

in

bits and

pieces

 

until you came

and made us

whole

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 11th Birthday my darling firstborn.

We love you.