Dear birth mom,

You did the right thing.

I’m sure you’ve thought a lot about it – whether you should have given me up or not. Or maybe you don’t think about it at all. Maybe it’s too painful or you feel guilty about it. Regardless, you did the right thing.

You did the most selfless thing.

Today you are double digits. Two numbers instead of one. It is an important birthday – you have now been alive for a decade. And since the day you were born, my love for you has been deeper than our climb down into the Grand Canyon, bigger than the skyscrapers in Chicago. My love for you is like that bicycle ride when you and I were pushing against that 13 mph wind: my love doesn’t give up. It won’t stop. And it will constantly keep pushing you to live the best version of yourself.