On the day you and your mother came home from the hospital, I remember holding you and watching her beam with the pure exhausted joy that only new mothers can feel. On that day, I looked at the father who didn’t deserve you and the mother that would go through hell and back to keep you healthy and well. But you, on this day where you are only a year old and a handful of months, you have no idea what you are in store for in this vast expanse of life before you….just because you are a girl.

As a girl that is as beautiful as your mother, you’ll learn quickly that it will make people look at you differently. With your bleach blonde hair and bright blue eyes you’ll immediately be a target for wandering eyes and imploring stares. You’ll take it as a compliment at first, but then it will grow annoying and worrisome with time. Remember that you are strong, and that no one can define who you are based on your looks.

Someday, there will be a boy (or maybe girl!), and while I know immediately that no one will ever be good enough for you, you will believe at first that they are. Know that while every relationship that you get into may seem like forever, it unfortunately is rarely that. Understand that while you’ll eventually say that you love them, you need to always love yourself more.

In school, your peers will either love you or hate you, and there’s no way around it no matter how brilliant you are. Once a decision is made, the vast majority usually follows a sound opinion, especially on girls. But no matter what they choose, I implore you to seek out the misfits, the loners, the people who will love your quirks and raw kindness and who will give you a different outlook on life by being the few that are immediately rejected by a society that views weirdness as something that is to not be befriended and loved. Love the unlovable, as long as it’s safe to do so, and project your light everywhere you go.

Unfortunately, you’ll eventually discover that men are viewed as superior while women are viewed as the opposite and I hope upon hope that by the time you are grown there will be less people that view us as that way. Nevertheless, stand by your opinions, your instincts, and your knowledge, and chase after what you know you deserve. No man has the power to tell you what you can or cannot do.

You’re a masterpiece, a work of art, a woman. Don’t ever let anyone dull your shine, your smarts, or your beauty.