Birthday boy

Mommy cried on your birthday, Sunny. You looked around, in a room of strangers, in a world waiting to be explored, innocently clutching a little piece of cake in your tiny little hands and fingers.

Happy birthday, Sunny!

Visitors from near and far came to celebrate and rejoice in your first year of life, as a baby, as an angel in the hearts of many. The furtherest came bearing gifts and good tidings from a low-lying land far, far away. But it was worth every hurdle and peril along the way, if only to see you smile.

Truth be told, it was less merry before you were born. Mommy was frightened, scared like an unsure child you sometimes are herself, and worried that she wouldn’t be able to bring you up all on her own. But she managed, not only to give you all the happiness and health in the world, but also the one thing that are missing in the lives of others: a mother’s deep and undying love. That’s why Mommy cried when you innocently sat in your chair while everyone else sang, and while colourful balloons flew like flighty butterflies all around the room. Birds sang outside on this bright, bright day. The day Sunny was born.

Joyeux Anniversaire, Aslan!

We looked at pictures of you, from the day you were born, to the day you took your first little step a few days ago… How small and fragile you once were, and how lively (and loud) you can be now! Never a dull moment, always a source of warmth and light to the lives of so many around you. It shows in the way you call out, in that sweet little intelligible baby babble, and in the way you crawl, crawl, crawl around the house on all fours like a little puppy in search of the next curious little thing to grasp or chew on. You may fall, and you may hurt yourself, but each time after the tears wash away the pain, you continue on your journey, grasping, chewing, crawling and discovering.

At first you were shy, and had forgotten the face and embrace of this foreign looking giant. But the more I changed your nappy, the more I fed you bits of food, and the more I let you splash me all over with water in the tub, the more you warmed to me… and me to you. Deep inside, I cannot but feel a little ashamed that though I’m supposed to be your godfather, I can’t be there to share with you the many first experiences of your life. I know I haven’t been there much for you, and most likely will miss important moments as you grow up, but your life has brought many blessings into mine. And somehow, you manage to take away that guilt, and transform each touch of our fingers, each moment of our time together into priceless memories I wish could last forever.

It’s those big brown eyes of yours, those podgy red cheeks, those wisplets of soft brown hair hanging down your forehead, and those adorable dimples that often appear when you stare into my eyes… It’s the way you look, act and move that help me to rediscover the priceless sense innocence and purity that people loose as they grow older, and supposedly wiser. You show me in the subtle way you rub your cheeks against mine, in the gentle way you snore at night that there is a wonderful, indescribable feeling thing as love with powers I never knew existed.

I gave you a kiss on the forehead, and hugged you. I whispered in your ears, and silently prayed in my heart, for your wellbeing, and for your future. The world awaits. The others chatted and were all full of praise of how beautiful, how sweet, and how cute you are. Though it was your birthday, we must also remind ourselves of the mommy behind you, who has been there for you always and everyday and night since your birth, and who will be there always, every time and every where throughout your life. The mommy who you cling to, the mommy you cry for, the mommy whose stomach you like to bounce around on... and the same mommy who gives you the very love and affection that is the source of your warmth.

You looked on, surprise and excitement in your eyes, as you flapped around your arms, revealing the six little white teeth that you had already sprouted. Mommy continued to sob. They were tears of joy, tears of relief, and tears that a mother would shed seeing his little boy grow and grow.

小太陽, 生日快樂 !

May you have such an effect on many more people who have the fortune to cross your path as you older, and wiser. May you always retain that air of innocence that surrounds you now, always live in peace and happiness by being true to yourself.

May you always be a source of warmth and light to yourself and others.