Post Party Post

India celebrated her 18th birthday on Saturday with a big dance bash. It culminated in super fun despite some initial toil and strife. We spent days wrangling the house into shape and stringing up pretties. Then the rain decided to make an unwelcome appearance late in the game so we got a nice gloss of wet and stress over our well laid plans. Nevertheless, with our appreciative friends, yummy nibbles, music and dancing there was no escaping a good time. I worked hard putting together a photo time line of India and hung it up along the hallway. It was amazing and poignant for me to take a long look at who she's been and become. My serious sweethearted imp has steadily grown into a young woman. Generous. Loyal. Fair. A good friend. A wild tender spirit. Creative. Loving. Intuitive. Poet. Face painter. Artist with her own voice. Unafraid of judgment. A good cook. Her own sense of style. Unique. These are all words people used to describe her that night, written on red paper hearts and pinned up. Yes, she embodies "unique" and all that implies. She has no plans of going anywhere far anytime soon (like me, she's a bit of a slow bloomer) but 18 is big. Adult. I feel so lucky that we have the love and space to hold her and that all our dear peeps see her clearly and appreciate who she is. Happy Birthday, Ia.

Photo: Ia Altar. A portrait of India in her Elven cloak around age 7 done by my Grandpa Albert Scott. Also, an inked print of her wee foot done at about 1 week of age.