To My One & Only Girl

My dearest OnlyGirl,

I still remember, like it was yesterday, how I curled up in the backseat of your father’s car as he rushed to the clinic the night you decided to come out from the comfort of my womb. From the increasing intensity of the contractions, I knew you were about to make your grand entrance, so I told your father to hurry. It was almost midnight when we got to the clinic, where your father and I had a brief moment of panic upon finding the main entrance locked. Luckily, we managed to communicate with the nurses who were on call and I made it to the labour room with some time to spare, as you came out wailing lustily at just a little after 2 am.

My first memory of you? Elven ears! As I held you in my arms, counting your fingers and toes, deep in my heart, I worried about the peculiar way that your ears were folded, making them look as though they were the ears of an elf. (Or at least, how they’re portrayed in modern folklore.) You have no idea how relieved I was to see them unfolded into the most normal of human ears some 6 hours later!

But elven ears or not, I still would have loved you just the same. My only regret is that you came out 9 days too early, otherwise, you and I would have shared the same birth date!

L-R (clockwise): As a newborn – Umbrella-wielding toddler – At Brunei’s Kampung Air, Nov 2004 – Impersonating the ‘Duchess of Don’t’ in Phuket, March 2008 – Turning 6 – Chilling at Polonuling, Philippines in 2005 – Pretty in pink, with Pooh

You spoke English as your first tongue. I still remember the perplexed look of your Indonesian yaya (nanny) when you told her “Makcik (Auntie), go away!”. The poor woman had to learn English in order to understand what you wanted or needed. To this day, English rolls out so effortlessly from your lips. And in a most charming American accent at that! (I never really figured out where you got that accent!)

In so short a time, you’ve grown into a spunky, outspoken, spontaneous, and vivacious young lady, one who lavishes people with sincere praise. You don’t realise how happy you made your Lola when you made her that simple card where you wrote “The World’s Greatest Lola” — it still takes up centre stage on her fridge door, where she can see it several times a day. You have no idea how much my heart swells every time you tell me I’m “the best mother in the whole wide world”, even if all I did was make you mashed potatoes that day.

From a very early age, you’ve already shown remarkable leadership qualities. You’d go around helping out your pre-school classmates with their work (you always finished yours quickly!). You’d help your teacher maintain discipline in your class, earning you the title “Little Teacher”.

To this day, you breeze through your classes with minimum effort but maximum results. And still prove to be a leader, having made it as a prefect, despite your age.

I may not be the perfect parent, but after hearing you proclaim that you can’t wait to be a mother like me one day, somehow, I must be doing something right! Little do you know how much you inspire me to be a better mother, my darling girl…

Happy 9th birthday, my beloved daughter! May God bless you and keep you in His care always.