Letters to My Daughter, October 2012

Letters to My Daughter, October 2012

25 October 2012

I have been silently following the Letters to Our Daughters project in the last few months and in awe with the idea and the photos that I've been seeing. To me, it is a very wonderful and meaningful project. For certain, this can be a memorabilia and a reminder for both the mom and the daughters about their bond and love for each other for thousand years to come.

So, I beyond thrilled to be able to join this project. I am elated to be able to share this personal project with photographers that I have long admire. Be sure to continue the circle by clicking on the link that you will find at the bottom of this post.

There is no artistic flair in the pictures that I post today. No dramatic sun flares, no gorgeous light, no amazing compo. They are more like snapshots (and I promise I'll do better next month.) But I love the fact that they captured what happened at that moment and show what I really meant with determination. So here we go.

Dear Jocelyn,

There are many qualities that I admire from you. One of those is your determination. It always put a smile on my face whenever you say, “I will try my best, mommy. I will believe in myself.”

Few weeks ago, I watched you play in a playground. You love playing monkey bar and we’ve been helping you all this time so that you can reach the end. That day, I wanted you to try. I watched you tried to move your tiny hands and arms from one monkey bar to the next. I watched you fell. I saw disappointment in your face but also eagerness. Oh, how I really wanted to run and helped you, picked you up, and pushed you so that you would be able to finish the game all the way to the end.

But my dear child, life is not always pretty and the world is not always kind. One day you will learn that not every journey has a clear path. As much as I want everything to go smoothly for you, I know that once in a while you will experience some disappointment (nothing too extreme, I hope.) Or that you will find few bumps here and there. What's important is that you pick up yourself again and learn the lesson. I continued watching you that afternoon, how you put a lot of effort moving your arms, grabbing one monkey bar to the next. I watched you fell and picked yourself up again. From one to two, from two to three, three to four, four to five bars, you were so determined to finish the journey.  

I knew at that time and even now that you will continue to try to reach all the monkey bars and finish the game, if I didn’t tell you to take a rest (because I noticed some blisters that started to appear on your palm.)

Two weeks later, we came back to that playground again. You said you wanted to try again. I said go ahead. And you finished all the 12 monkey bars! I saw your face gleaming with pride and I couldn't be happier. I clapped my hands like you just won a gold medal in Olympic. So my little girl, when things seem to fail...remember that determination can take you really far. I love you for always trying to give your best. I love you for your determination. I love you for being you. 

xoxoxo

Bunda

Please read the Letter to Our Daughters that's written by Shalonda Chaddock of Chubby Cheek Photography.