My special 21 yr old

21 years ago today, I had a baby. She was 9 lb 10 oz of the most beautiful baby girl, and I had this wonderful, easy birth. She and her Daddy had a wonderfully close relationship -- a kinship of souls. She's spent the last 3 years really growing and learning about herself. And we've been developing a wonderfully close relationship.
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I love the ways that she's so like her Dad - a reminder of him and his gentleness, depth of feeling, and artistic abilities with music and painting. And I love the ways that she's like me -- her love of cooking and her fearlessness to try new things, her inborn abilities when it comes to all things about a home (decorating, cleaning, organizing), her sense of humor and her loud, open laugh.

But I also love the way she's just so uniquely Molly. I love the woman she's becoming.
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The house today will smell like chocolate cake and Indian food. It will look like balloons and brightly colored wrapping paper. It will sound very, very female! From the 5 that usually run around the house looking for clean bath towels and hair spray to the extra half-dozen that will be here this evening eating cake and clinking glasses of bubbly stuff. It will sound like lots and lots of laughter and oodles and oddles of love.
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After all, 21 only comes once!