Dear Beautiful Genevieve,
From the moment I heard your mom was pregnant, I loved you.
When you were born I loved you even more. And when I held you in my arms, my
love for you grew even deeper. I want you to know that you are always loved.
You are loved just because you exist. No achievement, failure, beauty, scar—no
nothing – will ever change my love for you. I hope you never go a day without
knowing how deeply you are loved.
You are beautiful. I wait with anticipation for every
picture and video your mom sends me. You are gorgeous and never let someone
convince you otherwise. Beyond your external beauty, you have a beautiful soul.
I see it in your mischievous grin. I see it in how to care for Pickles. I see
it in your creative spark and your adventurous spirit. These qualities will
grow with you. Hold them close.
There will be days when you don’t feel beautiful, but know
in your heart, deeper than that fleeting feeling, that you are in fact beautiful.
There will be people who won’t see your beauty. Don’t listen to their hurtful
words. Come back to your core and to the people who will always love you to
reconnect to the beauty you will always have.
As you grow up, I want to remind you that life is a journey.
You have the power to choose your path. You will make mistakes. They are not
bad—you will learn so much about yourself from these mistakes. What you like and what
you don’t like, what you value and what you don’t value, what you want to pursue and
what you don’t want to pursue. Embrace the imperfection of life. It seems scary
I know, but resting in the imperfection bring abounding peace.
It’s tough growing up in today’s society. Women are
pressured to look, act, dress, present themselves in a certain light. The world
wants to tell you that you are only worthy if you have a certain body and
appear perfect. This portrayal is a façade. Take it from me who has experienced
this firsthand—that life is miserable. Being your authentic self is the only
true way to experience joy in life. Striving for that toner body or that
perfect 100% or that ideal guy causes such destruction. Instead, I encourage
you to pursue your dreams and not let any person, ideal, or standard stop you
from loving the life you live!
I want to leave you with one last piece of wisdom: show
compassion to others and especially yourself! In each moment know you are doing
the best you can and allow that grace to flow throughout your soul. Be kind to
your body as it is the vessel that connects your inner being to the world
around you. Have faith that your hard work leads to something miraculous.
You inspire me to be fearlessly authentic every day. You
motivate me to want to be recovered so that I can be a positive example of a
young empowered woman for you. Thank you for being your absolutely precious
self. You have more impact on the world than you can possibly know.
My deepest love,
Margaret Hartmann
