Reflections on my daughter, and myself...

Last week, Sarah got herself contacts. A VERY big day in her thirteen-year-old life. Well, she didn't exactly get them herself, but rather, her father and I provided them for her. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited she is. Still. Almost a week later.

I know exactly how she feels. I was once in her shoes - the awkward young teenager, fumbling into adolescence, complete with gangly limbs and plastic-rimmed glasses. But I must confess that Sarah is much less of a dorky girl that I was. She's actually pretty, and much more self-assured than I was at her age. I hope that means I'm doing something right...

I HATED my glasses. I had to get them in 3rd grade, but I probably needed them sooner. And, being one of the smarter girls in the class, wearing glasses did SO MUCH for my social life. *insert sarcastic-smilie here...* I was no longer pretty - I was just geeky-looking. The day I got contacts, everything changed. It was, literally, one of those places along the journey that transformed the entire course of my life. I was still the gangly, unsure kid, but I was no longer handicapped by glasses. Just those darned braces... *rolls eyes* I felt normal again, like I'd been given a precious gift. It all sounds so trite and vain, now, I suppose. But I still feel it, deep inside.

And I saw it on Sarah's face. The joy, the freedom, that she now carries with her. I remember it, as if it were yesterday. She no longer has to worry about losing her glasses during a snowball fight, and she can cook without her lenses fogging up. But one thing was missing... getting contacts didn't change how she saw herself. They just changed the way the world sees her. I wish I would have had her inner strength as a child, to be so sure of who I was, and not have been so insecure.

God bless you, my daughter. May I learn more from you as we grow together on this journey - mother and daughter, and one day, friends.