Child, we hear so often that you look just like us. So very often. It’s wonderful and it’s funny, and it’s stunning and we just think that’s just the way God works, as He forms families.

I’m so very proud that you look like me, Child. Amazed that a child of my flesh would possibly look so very much like you, this child of my heart. When you speak like me, open your eyes wide like mine, and even purse your lips for a question – just as I do – I’m reminded, you’re learning from us how to respond, how to communicate, when to smile, when to laugh, and how to make your way. You are so like your Daddy, too. It’s so crazy and beautiful.

It’s true though, that we become like who we spend time with. As you leave the safety of this nest, choose carefully, Love. As you grow and stretch and form friendships on your own, you are making a more important decision than you know. I somehow wish that I could give you my eyes to see the people around you. Not that I’m all-knowing, but I’m your Mama, and I know who I want you to emulate and learn from as you grow into who you are. I know what I want you to avoid, because we’re all these cracked mirrors for you to see yourself in, but some of us operate from a broken, broken place and the reflection you see just isn’t right.

I want you to know that you will reflect the friends you choose. Don’t look for perfect friends – you won’t find any. None that tell the truth, at least. Look for beautiful, truthful works in-process, those that you can laugh and cry with, and those that make you better when you leave. Those that you can offer your real self to, and be celebrated. Those that you want to know ten years, twenty years, or even forty years from now. Those you want to raise your babies with because your future children – my grandbabies – will be better for the experience.

Child, you’ll make an awful lot of decisions in life. This one, the one on which you choose who to surround yourself with, will shape so much of who you are – choose wisely.

Ellen