Happy Birthday, Aiden

Aiden Gabriel Daraghy
May 12, 2005
Anchorage, Alaska

Congratulations, Alaska Jen, and welcome to the parent club. Get ready for higher highs and lower lows than you ever imagined possible. There will be nights when the crying is non-stop and, to make things worse, the baby will be crying, too. There will be days when your only solace is that the proteins from the baby food in your hair will help provide that nice, shiny, fresh from the salon look later on. The pitter-patter of little feet is often preceded by the thunk and shatter of items left on tabletops. Yet from this comes love unmatched, joys beyond limit, and a seemingly endless supply of Happy Meal toys. There are moments where you hold him in your arms and the world around you ceases to exist. Even with your love of vocabulary (word nerd!), you are soon going to find that there are no words suitable to describe what you feel inside when you watch him drift off into slumber at the end of the day.

I wish you, Aiden, and your baby's daddy the best.