Once Upon a Time

(yeah, I think the title is recycled, but it'll work)
Anyway. Once upon a time I had a baby. It was a very pink baby, not in the stereotypical gender way, although it was a Girl baby, just generally a very pink person with a shock of very dark hair on it's head and huge dark eyes that gazed intently at you, like they could see through you really.She had an angry face that only softened when presented with the sounds and smells of mommy.
She loved to nurse. She loved eye contact. And I loved her. Deeply, madly, truly adored that infant with that face and those huge brown eyes.
Today that infant is 21 years old, and I still love her, truly, madly deeply. But now she's a voting, drinking, fully legal citizen of the country I birthed her in.
Lately around here there's been a lot of new people. Aidan, April, Emily, and another one on the way. Babies, new life, new lives. And there's been not-so-young people; my mother, needing my attention in a very new way and needing my time in ways I didn't really expect.
In the middle of all of this, Megan, this Girl, MY baby has suddenly turned Twenty-One. (This is where I say "when I was 21...")Well, when I turned 21 I walked into a package store to buy a bottle of wine. They didn't card me, and I was horribly insulted by this because I know I didn't look 21. I also wasn't really going to drink the wine. I wasn't going to drink the wine because I was pregnant. Very pregnant. With...Girl. Girl who is today 21, not pregnant, and away at college on an important day.
So, Happy Birthday Girl. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Although since by 21 I was married with a toddler and pregnant...well...um...don't do anything I don't want you to do. But have fun.(Girl's Second Birthday)
And.
I love you.