I’ll take a moment away from our regular scheduled programming and talk about Rebecca. She turned 17 on September 5 while we were at Yellowstone. The good news is that we’re done with 16. The bad news is that 17 doesn’t seem too much different than 16. Yikes!

As much as I tease Rebecca because she makes me do my job being a mom, she’s a great kid and I’m lucky to be her mom. She has an awesome personality made up of a great sense of humor, wittiness, sarcasm, a big heart, a forgiving soul, and a whole lot of strength.

Rebecca had a rough start in life. She was born into a chronically homeless family already overwhelmed with the newly 2 year old little girl, Vanessa. CPS had already been involved and by her first birthday, Rebecca had already been a shaken baby. A day after her first birthday, her brother, Julian, was born. A year after that, at the age of 2, another sister was born, Joanna. The following year, she was removed from her home and placed into foster care with Vanessa and separated from the younger 2 siblings. While in foster care, she had 2 more sisters born, Jazmine and Allena. Rebecca spent the whole 2 years of foster care with the same foster parent who, they discovered during the adoption process, had been drugging and abusing Rebecca the entire time she was in care. She moved home to Rochester, with her siblings, as an adopted little girl. She started kindergarten in Rochester and would tell anyone who would listen that she was adopted. She was so proud. Her go-to sentence was, “my name’s Rebecca and my mom adopted me!” To know her was to love her. She was always the teacher’s favorite or other adults favorite in anything she did. She had spunk and that smile was to die for.

That part of Rebecca hasn’t changed with age. She’s still a spunky, strong, charismatic little lady who makes everything in life more fun and more of an adventure. She loves her friends, loves her siblings, and has a passion for animals. She’s helpful around the house, enjoys cooking, and honestly, a mom couldn’t ask for a better daughter. I mean that, I’m beyond grateful that God brought her into my life and it’s such a privilege to call her my daughter and my friend.

I love you, Rebecca, happy birthday!

*pic- a selfie Rebecca took at Badlands