happy birthday, pet

Just a year ago I wrote about the differences between me and Ashlyn. It seemed strange to me at the time because she was just turning 16. Well today she's turning 17, and it feels okay.

In the last year, Ashlyn's grown up a lot. Now I'm not going to say that she's perfect because as any parent knows, it doesn't matter how great a kid is, they're still gonna suck from time to time. But overall, she's a good almost-adult. She's taken on a lot of responsibility for her brothers, (Patrick in particular) and has managed to get A's and B's in school while babysitting all day. She's not a typical teenager in that she is kind of a homebody, even though she gets to go and do most anytime she wants. And she's always home on time, even now that she has her DRIVERS LICENSE. She helps out when she knows I'm having a rough day and often amazes me by just being herself.

There are times when I see the child in her still, although they're increasingly fewer and farther between. More often now I see glimpses of the adult she is becoming and I'm not sure some days how I feel about that. I'm not having a problem letting her grow up; I think I've done a decent job of teaching her the things that are important, and if I haven't, well it's a little late to be starting now, isn't it?

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I love ya, Pet. You have your life in front of you and I hope you know that we're all behind you. You rock.