I am sorry. I am sorry for all the hurts I will not be able to fix. I am sorry for all the times I will forget the terrible uncertainty of youth and take your problems, whatever they may be, too lightly. I am sorry I will sometimes forget that you are not me, or an extension of me, but your own person who is destined to live her own wonderful life, full of her own mistakes and victories. I am sorry that I will not always have the energy to be the best version of myself around you. I am sorry for all the weaknesses in myself that you are bound to see, and all the fears that I can never completely ignore.

If there's one thing I want to teach you, it is to not be afraid. It is true that a safe life is a long life, but a safe life is a life barely lived. You are better than a half-lived life. Never forget that.

Please, always remember how beautiful you are. I'm not saying that as a mom or as someone who feels they have to, but as a fellow girl who has looked in her own mirror and seen all too clearly all that is unlovable. The scars and the cracks in the forced perfection our culture calls beauty, something that you will inevitably feel compelled to strive for, and then be disappointed again and again when you find that you can not measure up to these invisible and unspoken standards. But remember this. These blemishes, these "mistakes" in our make-up our are own special brand of beauty. A beauty that welcomes others in, that does not demand perfection, but only a genuine smile. When you look in the mirror, be reminded that there will come a time when someone will call you beautiful. I hope you have the courage to believe them.

When you cannot cry, laugh. Laughter is the most powerful sound on earth. It drowns out chaos and creates shelter. It can, for a moment, take the bitterness out of irony and shrink down mountains into molehills. Laughter is an invaluable weapon and friend. Laugh whenever possible. You won't regret it.

Finally, please always remember that you are stronger than you think, smarter than you realize, and more loved then you can possibly imagine. You will change the world and so many peoples lives, just by being yourself. Always take pride in the fact that, even when you FEEL small and insignificant in a big world full of skeptics, you are, and always will be, an extraordinary miracle.