today.

march 24th, 2010.

two years ago,

the happiest moment of

my life.

i’ll never forget

the moment we met…

it was a couple of

days before the photo

above was taken.

at 11:56am on a monday.

you were tiny.

your eyes were closed.

your mouth,

well,

it was wide open.

(it really never closed, and nowadays, there’s never a moment of silence between us).

two years ago,

i couldn’t have imagined

where life would take

us.

i swore the next day

that you would see

everything you would

have seen if things

had turned out differently.

but some months later

i changed

my view…

i decided you would see

more than you ever would have seen

if things had turned

out as expected.

this doesn’t fix things,

i know.

because some things

in life cannot be fixed.

a tough lesson to learn

at 27-hours old.

or at 30-years old.

or at any age.

but.

your happiness is

mine.

and i will forever

work to bring

you the happiness you deserve.

as i write this,

you are asleep at the

foot of my bed,

inside room 502

at the normandy hotel

just two blocks from the louvre.

(yeah, the one in paris).

if my math

and my memory are correct

the plane that

brought you here

was your 35th

round trip flight.

you’ve been to

four u.s. states,

(some of them multiple times).

three indian states.

two canadian provinces,

one mexican state

(three times, including for your first birthday, see below).

and a total of six countries

(not including the one in which you were born).

you’ve seen a lot

in these places,

in your first

two years,

more than i ever thought

i’d see in my lifetime.

but you’ve seen an

equal number of

amazing things

when we’re not traveling.

at home,

we go to the park.

we play with our friends.

we visit our family.

and sometimes

we

just sit on the

couch, reading a book,

watching a movie,

or simply

laughing at one another.

all of these places,

all of these experiences,

all for you.

(well, too be perfectly honest, doing all of these thigns makes me rather happy).

all done so that you will

have as much happiness

as possible,

so that when you wake

each morning, you

will wish for little,

except the one thing

none of us can give.

you may not remember

all of these memories

we’re making,

but slowly,

they are becoming part of

you.

(and i’ve taken tens of thousands of photos to someday help jog your memory).

two years since,

you’ve lived a lifetime.

but there are many

more lifetimes to go.

thousands of places to visit.

millions of new friends to make.

and an endless number of happy memories

to fill your dreams.

happy birthday, madeline.