01/24/2026
Today you should be turning 18.
A milestone we always knew would come, but one we never imagined we would face without you here.
You left us at 11, and somehow the world has kept moving forward, even though ours stopped in so many ways that day.
Now you’re supposed to be grown — choosing colleges, talking about the future, driving yourself places, making plans with friends we’ll never get to meet.
We’ll never know who your best friend would be now.
What subjects you’d love.
What music you’d listen to.
What you’d want to be when you grew up.
If you’d still laugh the same way. If your smile would look different. If you’d be shy or confident or both.
We don’t get to know your favorite coffee order.
We don’t get to help you pick out a prom dress.
We don’t get to watch you stress over exams or celebrate acceptance letters.
We don’t get to see who you’re becoming.
Instead, we hold onto who you were — 11 years of love, laughter, and a bond that death didn’t take with it. You grew up in heaven, but you will always stay the little girl who made us parents.
Happy 18th birthday, our sweet girl.
We miss the life you should have had.
We miss the woman you were supposed to become.
And we miss you — every single day.