To Notice

My four angel daughters.  Four individual people born out of a singular love.  Each one unique.  Each one beautiful beyond words.  Each one a pain in the tush from time to time, but each one, the love of my life.

Looking at these pictures, I can see the differences.  The distinct personalities.  The small nuances which make them all special.  Angel Daughter Number Two tilts her head in a subtly coy manner.  It is as if to say, "I'm full of mischief, but I will distract you with my adorable smile."  If not for this face, she would have been grounded for a whole lot more during her high school years!  Sweet.  Friendly.  But there is a knowing to how she lives her life.  An intuition that quietly reminds anyone who she meets, that this is someone who you should remember.  Someone whose name you should keep.

Angel Daughter Number Four with her unequivocal personal style.  She has to be the most self-assured sixteen year old that I have ever met.(and I have met a lot of sixteen year olds!)  Positively comfortable in her own skin.  Reasonable beyond her sixteen short years.  She not only received the benefit of two very experienced parents, but three older sisters to learn from.  She is the culmination of a very busy, very loving household.

Angel Daughter Number Three.  My blue-eyed girl.  Feminine.  Prissy.  My springtime breeze.  What you see is what you get.  There is a matter-of-factness about her that lets those around her know that they will be doing it her way.  She might get the joke, but she will only laugh if she wants to.  And when she does, everyone around her laughs, too.

Angel Daughter number One.  Poised.  Puts children inside of giant bubbles!  Takes on her Cinderella stance when her momma is serious about taking a picture that nobody really wants to be in.  She is lovely.  Kind-hearted.  Gentle.  And sometimes she forgets how powerful she truly is.  She recently landed a job in which there were at least one thousand applicants.  One thousand applicants!  She was one of twenty-three who got hired.  That's power.  Use it for good, my dear.

It is up to us to notice the unique characteristics in those whom we love.  Especially and most importantly, our own children.  The world is full of individuals who have been scarred by never being noticed for who they are.  For what they have to contribute.  For their anomalous gifts.  How many resources have been wasted just by being brushed over?  My heart breaks to consider the numbers.

With each one of my daughters, I envisioned a clean slate.  A solitary spirit with unparalleled capacities.  With each one, I observed.  I took in the details.  I nurtured the differences.

And with each one, I still observe as they evolve and grow and transition into who they will continue to become.  The essence of who they have been still remains strong, but the ability to thrive, to change, to embrace the gifts as they come, therein lies the future.

And as their momma, it is up to me to remind them that they are each not only one in one thousand, but one in one million.  To notice each and every new feather that appears in their wings.  To not compare them to me, or their father, or their friends, or each other, but to who they have been and who they are now becoming.

To notice.  To notice.  To notice.

And to acknowledge, accept and acquiesce.

I try to notice the gifts of not only my angel daughters, but of anyone whom I might come in contact with throughout the course of a day.  There is something to notice about everybody.  I am not saying that there are days in which I am feeling rather crummy myself, and I forget to take the time.  But most days, I notice.  And I say something nice.  And in return, I receive a very genuine smile.

Who would you be if someone took the time to notice?  To really notice you?