OMG for anyone who watched Stranger Things Season 3, the letter at the end Eleven read was an absolute tear jerker.
I cried last night watching it, this morning at the gym, as I got dressed, on the bus and while I was getting coffee when I re-watched it.
In the interest of not spoiling too much don't read on if you don't want to know more.
If you don't care or know already, it was a beautiful letter written by a dad to his daughter. Yikes, it makes me emotional just typing it. It's all about our daughters growing up and how hard it is to let go.
It's so pertinent to me as Zoe's last few months at home before college pass by. The part that got me most was how he encouraged her to make mistakes and feel them (which I frequently encourage Zoe to do).
The home run was how he tells his daughter that feeling those feelings is proof that you aren't living life "in a cave". That hit me so deep.
As much as it hurts when she hurts, it's part of what I've prepared my daughter for. To live life.
Every day she's with me, I kiss her very gently before I go to work on the forehead. Half the time I think she's awake but keeps her eyes closed.
Today I heard her alarm go off so I knew she was sort of awake. So today I leaned in tenderly and gave her a little more intentional kiss on the forehead.
I lingered a little bit so I could feel her hair on my cheek. That same hair I had so desperately struggled to comb with as few tears as possible from her (and at times me). That same hair that sent me to ponytail school when she was 4 because I had no clue how to do one.
I lingered a bit so I could feel her heart and her soul.
Then I reached deep down and not loudly but clearly told her:
"I love you so much".
It was all I could muster at that moment and it felt really sacred.
She responded that she loves me too. And frankly she's probably more focused on getting up and going to work when it's her time.
And while I know in my heart I know the imprint is there, in those deepest moments it feels like almost an imperative to tell her, to say it.
And I would never have guessed that a phenomenal show like Stranger Things would provide such an incredibly moving moment. And I don't know if it imprinted something into my soul, but it certainly stirred something.