I got pregnant at 19 and right after I turned 20 my first child was born. I knew all along that her name would be Kai and my husband went right along with it. She was born on a beautiful spring evening, our hospital room overlooked the majestic Mt. Hood in Oregon. I remember sitting there for a week after she was born just holding her crying at how beautiful of a creature my husband and I had created. That week we shed many tears of joy because Kai was here and the world was finally a better place because of it.

Born from the earth Kai embodies the beauty and intelligence of our planet. She’s as compassionate and caring as a brown bear who lovingly protects her cubs through the cold winter. She forgives quickly and heals over her wounds on her own like the erosion in the steepest canyons and without fail she keeps progressing forward.

Her soul is deep like the mountains that run along the floor of the ocean. She’s smarter than an eagle but people don’t expect it because she’s as quiet as a field mouse. She has the spirit of a a gray whale slowly moving through the ocean taking in every moment purposefully as with every breath it dives deeper and swims further. She is cunning like a fox and a silly as a goat.

Her dreams will allow her take flight and reach for the stars because she knows that beauty doesn’t just exist on earth.

She’s my calm between the worst of storms and my greatest gift to this earth.