“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.” –Ta-Nehisi Coates

Landen had a big weekend.  She started Cotillion and had a 5 hour dress rehearsal for Drill Team.  Lots of hair, makeup, undergarments, dresses, shoes and accessories!  And I got to be with her every step of the way.  I am so thankful!  And so proud of the young lady she is becoming.  She is kind, thoughtful, curious, observant, creative, meticulous and sensitive. Secure yet insecure.  Shy yet bold.  Scared yet brave.  Independent yet dependent.  Serious and silly.

“I don’t want to be little again. But at the same time I do. I want to be me like I was then, and me as I am now, and me like I’ll be in the future. I want to be me and nothing but me. I want to be crazy as the moon, wild as the wind and still as the earth. I want to be every single thing it’s possible to be. I’m growing and I don’t know how to grow. I’m living but I haven’t started living yet. Sometimes I simply disappear from myself. Sometimes it’s like I’m not here in the world at all and I simply don’t exist. Sometimes I can hardly think. My head just drifts, and the visions that come seem so vivid.” -David Almond