My beloved Boo Boo,

I feel compelled to write something to you today, on your fifth birthday, in the hope that you might read it someday soon yourself!

I want you to know, first of all, how very much your father and I dearly love you. We have great passion for your passionate self. I didn’t know how much I could feel about, think about, and love someone until you were born. You have been my main preoccupation in the last five years. Sometimes, it hurts me how much I love you, and how much I want you to be the person God intends.

Ever since your first contraction, you have been an intense, unprecedented force of nature unlike any I’ve ever beheld. Still sometimes, your father and I are in awe of you, and our minds boggle at how the Lord has blessed you with so many good things. To whom much is given, much is expected — and I know the Lord can depend on you to endow his Kingdom as you grow in wisdom and stature.

Throughout your life, I hope you never forget how incredibly loved you are — by us, by your siblings, by your extended family, and most of all, by the Lord. And I hope, someday, you realize and understand everything your father and I have done for you, out of love of you.

You have been a magnificent gift to our family, for which we will be forever grateful to God. May he continue to bless you abundantly, and prepare you for a life pleasing to him on earth and a blessed life with him in heaven.