I said that on the day my daughter stopped nursing, I'd drink a margarita to celebrate. It's been approximately one week and the occasion was not as celebratory as I envisioned. No margaritas or party hats. In fact it was rather anticlimactic and somewhat melancholy. Her nursing cessation made me realize her infancy stage was now but a memory, and that realization made me sad. Gone is the little girl who could barely hold her head up and keep her eyes from crossing. No longer was my body an instrument of nourishment. Her cries of hunger have been replaced with pointing and simple words of communication such as "agua" (water) and "cookie." So, in honor of her new found independence, I'd like to share a poem I wrote to my fourteen month old daughter (she turned fourteen months today).
Love Poem to My Daughter
For nine months I carried you in my womb
And during those nine months, I fell in love with you without you saying a word
Our first encounter was just before sunrise
And when your flesh was placed upon my flesh
It forged an indelible print on my heart that will follow me to the grave
My love for you transcends language, time, and rational
Your existence has defined my existence
And if my path of mortality is filled with failure and heartache
I will but consider myself privileged in knowing that I at least have the honor of calling you my daughter.
I love you
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