So I have to write a quick follow up. A colleague sent me a note saying, I’m confused, I thought you had a daughter named Taylor! I had a good chuckle and then replied, you’re right, I do!
I didn’t forget about her in my Mother’s Day blog; Not in any way shape or form. She is my girl 100% of the time.
She and her sister and brother are my first cousin, Shannon’s kids and they have been extraordinarily special to me from the moment they made appearances on this earth.
The youngest, Taylor, was and continues to be a spitfire! She and I had an oddball weirdo connection from the time she was a baby that has only grown closer over time.
For reasons we don’t quite remember, it became the family funny to say she was my daughter when she was an orangutan! All of us are orangutans from time to time in our youth…and I’m not copping to the fact that perhaps her orangutan moments reminded her actual parentals of me!
Taylor faced a lot of challenges in her later teens. She maintained top marks while working multiple jobs and navigating life with an ill Mom and a Dad that had to work in the west and her own health challenges. She took an awful lot onto her plate and was able to not only manage but she flourished and showed us all that through hard work and determination and a brilliant mind and a kind heart that anything is possible.
She has extremely high standards for herself and for those in her life.
One of the things I think I loved the most about teen Taylor was that she truly was her own person. Forever interested in such a wide variety of things, she’d research and always want to discuss and grow.
It wasn’t always sunshine and roses, though. I remember pissing her off once and I got roasted in an email! It took me awhile to get back in her good graces…but she’s more than worth it!!
As time went on and there was strife within the family, I watched her hold it together with class. She rose above the negativity and followed her dreams in spite of it all.
She became far more than my little cousin. She became my confidant. My cheerleader. My bridesmaid. The one who always tells me the truth and challenges me to cut the shit and keep it real. The one who finds solutions to perceived issues. The one who shows up every single time, no matter what.
She’s a fierce defender of justice and the underdog. She’s forever trying to help my stress levels and to manage all that I have on my plate. She would argue with Satan himself if it was in defense of me or anyone she loves.
She’s one helluva gal to have in your corner. And she will always be my T-baby.
It’s a little odd to claim someone else’s child as your own so that’s why I didn’t include her in my blog about mother’s. She has a Mama. A fantastic one at that. Instead I focused on the ones I have an official title for…ie the God kids.
But I do have a title from her too. I’m her Jojo now and forever. She’s a fancy schmancy smarty pants doctor now in New Brunswick and I don’t see her half as often as I would like. But I would never want her to think for one second that I don’t think of her as mine. Our connection is so strong that it didn’t occur to me that that might be a possibility until my colleague questioned it!
I hope she has had an absolutely amazing day with her real mother and that she knows how very precious she is to me today and everyday. I’m so proud of her and am so grateful to her Mama for sharing just a little of her with me…even on this very special day for mothers. Sorry T, I didn’t mean to leave you out. I thought it would be weird if I claimed you and it only wound up being weird that I didn’t!! Love you to the moon and back, always and forever!
One gal's journey to joy
Dandelion Wishes 