O, matre pulchra filia pulchrior

(~Oh, daughter more beautiful than your beautiful mother)

I miss her already. My sweet, beautiful jewel of a daughter, Lyndsay, headed to Kentucky for a week to lend a hand to her postpartum Aunt Abby, who just sent her husband to Afghanistan five days after giving birth to their second baby. Their first baby is 17 months old. Lyndsay to the rescue!

This is the first time that Lyndsay has flown all by herself, and it's a big one since it's out of LAX first thing on a Friday morning, and finding a connecting flight in Atlanta. She sweated it out, but in true Lyndsay style, faced her fears head-on and steeled herself for the adventure that awaits. My sister will be there to meet her in Louisville around 8:30pm, lugging two babies and so happy for an extra pair of arms, I'm sure. The two of them will have a magnificent time. My only regret is that I could not join them for this girl time.

I wrote Lyns four letters last night, one for each leg of her journey there and back. They are sealed in envelopes with instructions not to open until on each particular airplane. I hope they will be a pleasant diversion for her. In them, I tell her how incredibly proud I am of her for her competence, responsible nature, unselfishness, grace, poise, cheerfulness, sweetness, capability, trustworthiness, beauty, maturity, and wisdom. It is because she is so exceptional that I felt she could handle this trip alone. Sometimes sending a 12 1/2 year old into a situation like this could just mean more grief for the one needing help. But Lyns is a professional, trust me. She can multi-task with the best of them. She can cook more competently than many mothers, she bakes the best brownies from scratch, plus she can clean anything, quiet newborns, sing every great baby song, make intricate origami creatures, perform all kinds of amazing string games, and then in her spare time she'll knit, weave, read...and call her mom. She is so much fun to be with, never a bother, very unobtrusive, and always helpful. I absolutely live in awe of her. She never says anything she regrets, like I do, because she has this skillful poise with which she can express herself truthfully without hurting anyone's feelings in the process. She's a leader without being overbearing. She's beautiful without being intimidating. She's smart without being arrogant. She's gentle in every way. She would make any mother proud. How in the world did I, of all people, get so lucky? Once when asked who I would most like to be like in the world, I replied, and I mean it, "my Lyndsay".

So, I will endure another week without my sweet Lyns. She is so good I simply can't keep her all to myself. I must share her so she can brighten more of the world. Look out, Fort Knox, Kentucky. You'll never know when night falls!