With your mom on mothers day

Nona Marie Massey

 With your "associates" in family!

 To Nona legally becoming an adult at 18   2018-06-22

Even just your name (Nona Marie) reminds us of an amazing break up and journey for our entire family since your arrival into our  lives June 22nd 2000 . It has been most wonderful, better than expected and life enhancing in so many ways for us all.

I wish that you being child number 6 in the family would have meant that we had become more capable parents for you than we were for number 1.  Sorry -- but each of you have been so wonderfully unique that it has meant starting all over from the very begining with each of you - Each has brought new and wonderful experience in all our  efforts to create a  home and family environment to suitably encompass just your own individual and amazing beings. 

The legal system of our culture makes turning 18 a major milestone ... Your identity becomes separate from ours by law! -- I hope that you can accept that this never ever will happen in our hearts -- Nona, you will always be ours -- even as we lose the capacity or strength to influence, encourage or support you, as we always will wish that we could. This is part of the blessing and of the curse of being part of a family such as ours!

The complexity of life in our society makes it  hard to find much hard and fast practical advise to safely share with you ... Both your mother and I trust the basic values that we  have seen grow and become important to you -- and we are so proud of you in this  --- The only advice that seems right at the moment would be for you to strive to keep these values in your daily focus ...  Sometimes the  struggle for simple daily survival  pushes matters of principle and moral dignity into the foggy background in the priorities of life. 

Just remember that the search for fullfillment and satisfaction in life (which is our greatest wish for you) is most fruitful when these honorable principles and values  can be  syncronized with daily life and practially inserted into the  process of unassuming ordinary days. Matters of principle and of daily life should never be regarded as 2 separate issues.

The future is a very large chapter facing you at the moment.. and we wish you all the very best as you write both the captions and the content of this wonderful work -- the book of life that is open before you here and now -- Nona, write with care but write it freely  -- and may the pen you write with be firm, but also soft and gentle!.

Your mom and dad