The Best Compliment
The best compliment I have ever received, and one I can’t imagine being overshadowed in my lifetime, my four-year-old daughter has said to me semi-regularly over the last six months. Sometimes it’s when she asks me to lay down with her before or after her nap; other times it’s when she wants to be picked up. She’ll get as close to me as possible, wiggling the whole time like she’s trying to cover herself with my warmth. She’ll smush her cheek into mine to the point of discomfort and inevitably jam her shoulder into my throat. But then… “You’re so cozy! You’re always so cozy!” These words are the greatest gift to my mama heart. They express a feeling I wish my birth to four-year-old self could have experienced. As a child in and out of foster care until four years old, I was so often lonely, scared, and cold. These words are my greatest gift because they mean I’m giving my daughter the greatest gift: a pillar of warmth and love. A pillar of war...