Izzy turned 7 years old last month. Wow! Does it ever stop?! Something about our daughter turning seven seemed like a bigger deal than years past. She would soon be getting up by herself in the morning (we hope) and reading stories to Ash at nighttime (we still hope). We felt moved to mark the occasion in some significant way.
We came up with this simple but memorable ceremony …
We invited a small group of those, friends and relatives, who have spent the most time with her and thus had the greatest influence. We asked each person to bring a small charm that symbolized a trait or behavior that they felt was innately a part of who Izzy is. The charms would then be offered to Izzy in a ceremony on the morning of her birthday … before the pool party that afternoon.
The idea was well received as one set of grandparents flew up from Florida, and the other set of grandparents drove down from Dallas to join in. There were uncles, and, of course, her little brother Ash was there too, along with Laura of Izzy And Ash fame. There were about 10 of us in all.
We gathered around the table in our living room which had a few small candles lit, and a box for each of the charms. Then we each took turns and briefly told Izzy why we picked that charm for her.
The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes, and turned out to be very moving for everyone. Our intention had been to honor our child, and also to give her something by which she could remember herself as she continued to grow. But as I looked around our circle, and the emotion and tears and smiles in the faces of everyone there, I realized that this was just as much for us as it was for Izzy. We all felt our mutual bond grow deeper, and our sense of purpose and continuity strengthened.