Dear Daughter,
Here we are, it is almost 11 p.m. on a Sunday night and you just got home. Almost every weekend, if not every weekend is like this. I couldn't tell you the last weekend that we had where we just stayed home. I wouldn't trade our life for anything though.
This weekend was a weekend mom weekend. On Friday, we zoomed off to her house so you could head out with her to a weekend jackpot. You didn't care what else might have been going on this weekend, someone could have invited you to a party or on an adventure, and you would have said no thanks, weekends are for horses and volleyball or going to close friends houses on that rare weekend off.
It amazes me to watch you switch gears. Two weekends ago was a friends weekend, going to a Good Friday service with your mom and weekend mom, having dinner and a girl's night out at the movies, staying the night and then getting up and heading to your other favorite families house to hang out and go watch bull riding finals. Not too many young ladies would give up a Friday night for their mom and their weekend mom, but you don't think anything of it.
Last weekend, you were "18" and off to college with your sister and future brother-in-law, going to a concert and hanging out with them all weekend. You enjoy the time with them, whether they are home or at school. You went to your first party in the woods, made the right choices, and I don't think anyone thought you were just a freshman in high school. You are mature and responsible and wise beyond your years.
Next weekend, you switch gears yet again. On goes the volleyball uniform for a weekend of playing. You play a sport that you love, a sport that you keep growing more confident in, and a sport that has challenged you and tested your limits. When you put on that uniform, you are proudly the girl on a team where you are younger than everyone else. Looking at your team, you wouldn't know that you were the youngest. You wouldn't know that you changed positions during the season, that you are no longer the setter but the middle. An outsider looking in doesn't see the hours of practice each week, the learning you are doing taking on a new challenge, the fact that you have grown so much in your strength and knowledge and every aspect of the game. They don't know that just a year ago, your serving frustrated you, your jumps were never high enough, and your game just wasn't where you wanted it. This year has been that year, a growing year for you. You have grown taller, you have gained confidence, you have gained muscle and strength, and I see in you a young woman who is proud to be a part of a team that stands with each other, not tearing one another down, not criticizing, not blaming, but as part of a true team. I love to watch you play, even on those days that you just don't think you can do it.
Two weekends from now, you will be at a rodeo again. You don't know what horse you will ride, you don't know what will happen. But, the one thing you do know is that you will be there. You will be doing what you love. You won't have the fastest time, you won't win. That isn't anything you don't know. But, you will get on a horse, maybe for the very first time, and you will go out there and run. It takes true strength to do what you do. It takes determination, and will power and that is something you do have. Rodeos are new to you as a competitor and they might take a while until you find a rhythm. Just remember though, every time you get on a borrowed horse, you re winning. Not everyone can get on a horse they have never rode and have the ability to ride it. Not everyone can do what you are doing. Someday, I hope for you to have a horse of your own to run, but until then, keep your head high because you are doing your personal best every time you run.
What the future weekends hold? I can't really say. But, whatever sport, adventure, family or friend opportunity it is, we are sure to be somewhere, doing something you love. Thank you for being a young woman who doesn't mind road trips with mom. I look forward to many more adventures this summer and throughout the coming years.
I love you,
Mom
