I met Priya for the first time on a warm Saturday afternoon in June.  She was asleep in the living room when I first walked in and she looked like nothing short of a porcelain doll.

She was about ten days old at the time.

I met my husband for the first time just a few weeks earlier.  We spent the evening sitting on a patio along the water and as the evening air cooled, we moved inside and talked long into the night.

I was twenty-five years old at the time.

And all of that was eleven years ago.  Eleven years ago since I first met my husband and eleven years ago since I first met Priya.  Eleven years ago since I began to fall in love with one of the most amazing families.

A family she was born into and a family I was married into.

In the goodness of this life, I believe that we all anchor ourselves to something.  To a memory that holds it all together…to a time that makes it all real.  We hold on to the endless beauty that connects us to what we love most in this world.

Priya…is my anchor.

She is beautiful…she is brilliant…she is a thousand things that most of us could only ever hope to be at such a young age.  And in her own amazing way, she has always been a reminder to me of all the blessings that came into my life during that time.  The love…the acceptance…the people.  She reminds me because – together – we have both become a part of something bigger than ourselves.

We have become family.

Happy birthday to my anchor…my niece…my reminder of beauty in this world.

Happy birthday to my most beautiful Superstar…

xoxo