This is 18 And I Didn’t Expect the Emotions

Eighteen years ago, I pulled you onto my belly, your newborn silky smoothness nestling into my stretched skin. My first baby, my first taste of motherly love, my first day of a forever-altered life. Eighteen years have gone by in a flash, and at the same time felt like an eternity. Eighteen years of snuggles and struggles, of worry and wonder, of incessant needs and incomparable joys. Eighteen birthdays, and here we are.

I’ve been through so many mothering milestones, I didn’t think any of th...