On this day

She's 18 years old today. As of today my daughter is officially an adult.

Like almost every mother I know I wonder where the time has gone. It doesn't feel like 18 years that on this day she was lying in my arms for the very first time, with her eyes firmly shut, refusing to look at this bright and noisy new world. She opened them a bit later - at that time they were deep blue and still hadn't the two slightly different colors they have now. I remember that back then everybody told me time would pass quickly, but I had no idea that it would actually fly and suddenly my baby was all grown up.

Those 18 years were mainly good years and when I look at Kaefer today I feel blessed to be the mom to this amazing young woman she has become. Since last summer when she went to Germany all on her own for the first time she has matured very much. The entire process of checking out colleges, applying to and finally deciding for one was a further step that resulted in more maturity. She certainly has gained more independence over the past 12 months.

Still, she is a teenager with a lot of goofiness which I hope she will never completely loose. It's her sense of humor that will help her along her way through life. She is self confident without being arrogant and has a very healthy self image that is aware of her own faults. She is smart and hard working, creative, witty and kind. I've never heard her gossip or talk about someone behind their back.

She deserved a colorful bouquet from my garden. Here I am gathering flowers for her.

Yesterday was prom at her school - well, it wasn't actually at the school but in the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Before she met with her friends for the pre-prom we took a few pictures in the front garden.

The Geek had the honor to put the corsage on her wrist. Against all odds the red ribbon matched the color of her dress perfectly.

This is my favorite image from yesterday's photos.

(The three top photos were among the shots I took for her senior picture.)