Eight today.
Happy Birthday to my youngest granddaughter.
The day was packed full of little adventures, sushi train with her best friend, bowling, and riding her brand-new hoverboard with all the confidence in the world.
Watching kids at that age is something special; fearless one minute, laughing uncontrollably the next.
Then came a hospital visit, a reminder that life never really pauses, even on birthdays.
But the night still finished on a beautiful note with a light show in the park nearby.
Colours glowing through the trees, lights dancing across the darkness, kids running around excited while adults quietly took it all in.
Now the house is full of birthday excitement, whispers, giggles, snacks everywhere, and her best friend staying the night for a sleepover.
The kind of simple childhood memory that feels enormous when you’re eight years old.
Days like today are exhausting and emotional all at once, but they are the days memories are built from, family, friendship, resilience, laughter, and making the most of the moments in between everything else life throws at us.
Eight years old today.
Growing up far too quickly.
The Lady in the Back Row 