It's Been a Swiftie Year

 Dearest Maggie, 

I am sitting in my childhood bedroom, on the first day of the year, determined to finally finish the letter to you. As I am writing many of Taylor Swift's song lyrics keep repeating over and over in my head: 

Oh, Darling, don't you ever grow up. 

You are the best thing that's ever been mine. 

That I had the best day with you with you today. 

'Cause I don't know how it gets better than this. 

You see, I started this letter to you six months ago, on our flight home from Botswana. I had planned on talking about your newfound wanderlust. Your epic summer: Southern Africa, camp in Colorado, NYC, and the US Open with your father. But, life, as life tends to in the late summer and fall, got away from me. We moved into a bit of a rocky start to the school year. There was some friend drama, some bedroom door slamming, some late-night chat sessions, and some tears. So, I opened up a new doc to start fresh and write about your cliche teenage moods. But it didn't feel like you. I deleted it and started again. So, you can see I have started and stopped and changed and restarted this letter so many times.

At thirteen you have many accomplishments, characteristics, and interests. You are an adept tennis player. You love languages and dream of studying Spanish in South America. You write beautiful poems, short stories, and essays. You play on a local rec volleyball and swim team. You love tacos, cupcakes, and strawberries. You blast Latin Pop Songs in your bedroom. You are adventurous, brave, and kind. You are responsible, calm, and insightful. You hope to work in marine biology and will spend hours crafting in your scrapbook. You love mysteries and fantasy books including A Twisted Tale and The Sinister Summer series. Your wanderlust rivals mine and you are ready to travel the world at any possible moment. You start most weekday mornings with a 15-minute calisthenics workout and begin practicing the piano at 6:30am. (We refuse to allow you to start earlier than this!) You are logical, focused, and always ready to laugh. But most notably, in the year 2023, you became a full-fledged, certified Swiftie. 

Taylor Swift has swept the nation, and we haven't been spared. You spend hours in your room memorizing all the lyrics. You dragged your sisters to her Eras Tour: The Movie. You have been meticulously listening to each song, in order of release analyzing and tracking her lyrical evolution. At first, I chalked this up to a typical teenage behavior. I remember spending hours in my bedroom with my boombox and blank tapes recording music. Refusing to do yardwork or chores unless I could listen to my Walkman and spent every penny of my babysitting money on new CDs. 

You and I have always had a strong connection to music - often being the ones who vote for a playlist versus a podcast in the car. I believe that music can represent our emotions. It can raise your mood, and get you excited or pumped. It can also make you feel calm and relaxed. There is a reason we have so many lullabies for babies. Music also - and this is important - allows us to feel nearly all emotions that we experience in our lives. But, particularly in adolescents, music offers an avenue to articulate emotion, and Taylor Swift's superpower is her uncanny ability to craft lyrics that resonate with the experiences of the common teenager. Swift's songs mirror the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence, and her ability to adapt while staying true to herself resonates with a generation that values self-expression and individuality. My hope for you, my love, is that music will continue to leave an indelible mark on your heart and mind. 

Yeah, we're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. 

It seems like Swift captures 13 perfectly. 

I love you more than all the water in the oceans and all the stars in the sky. 

Love, Mom