The Force

Last night at Book Club a woman who I've known through teaching and social events around town mentioned how much she loves seeing Natalie pictures and stories on my Facebook feed.

"Thank you," I replied.  "She really is starting to get fun."

And then she said something that made me stop.

"You can just tell that she is a force.  Just a FORCE.  But with you and Craig as her parents, I expect nothing less."

A force.  May the force be with you.  A force to be reckoned with.

FORCE:
- The capacity to do work or cause physical change; energy, strength, or active power
- A person or group capable of influential action
- A capacity for affecting the mind or behavior; efficacy....and one that possesses such capacity

Yes.  I want my daughter to be a force.  I want her to be a leader, to fight for what is right and to change people's perception of the world.  Whether that is on a national stage or just within her local community....I want her to be a force for what is good, right and just.  But I want her to do all that with passion, COMpassion, grace and dignity.

I want her to be so much greater than me.  Stronger, braver and more confident.  I want to raise her in such a way that when she goes to college, it's more like I'm freeing her so that she can go and conquer the world.