Dear Amanda

My Dear Amanda,

Today is your 9th birthday. I’m not as happy about that as you are. For you, it means you are growing up, getting older and are able to do more things. For me, it means you are growing up, getting older and are moving further away from being my baby.

I see all the miraculous things you are: smart, beautiful, sweet, lovable - and I’m so proud of the girl you are and the tween you are becoming. This is the last year you will be in the single digits. You think I am trying to keep you a child by not letting you do things the older kids do… you’re right. I’m not ready for you to grow up just yet.

You have it kind of hard. You are the middle child and it’s not fair. Temera gets to do everything first. Lauryn is the baby and gets lots of attention. I know you think that you are forgotten, caught in the middle. You are NOT forgotten, my sweet Mandy. You are the link between your sisters - I wish you realized that. You are the lucky one. You get to experience having an older sister AND a younger sister. You get to BE an older sister and a younger sister. Coming from someone who never had a sister at all, I think that is pretty special. I know you all fight so much… but I also know that you all love each other. Keep loving each other… your sisters are everything to you.

Did you know that the word “Amanda” means “lovable”? That is no accident. You have so much love inside you. You are named after two very important people to me: my grandparents. Your great-grandmother Muriel was nicknamed Mindy after her Hebrew name Mindel. I thought about calling you Mindy but I also wanted to incorporate your great-grandfather’s name Martin. That’s how we came up with Mandy.

When your Dad and I were planning our wedding, we used to talk about baby names a lot. We were driving one day and he turned to me and said, “What do you think about the name Mandy?” Little did he know that the name had been in my mind for a long time. I always wanted a daughter named Mandy. How lucky for us that we got exactly what we wanted.

My sweet girl, please don’t ever feel less important than you are. You are everything to us and we love you beyond belief.

Have an extra special birthday. We will be celebrating the day you came into our lives.

Our love always and forever,

Mom and Dad