You should have been
16 today. You should have been.
I would, or I should, have
given you a present today, for your 16th birthday. A very special
one. Already a young woman, or very close to being one. My little one, mi
babita.
But I cannot give you your
present, because you are not here.
Yet here is your
present, one you would have liked to see, without any doubt. A present we can
share with whoever chooses to have a look here.
A few starfish. Like
the one you and I found on the southern shores of Upolu barely 48 hours before
the ocean rushed in and drowned you.
That starfish was
dead. These were alive and happily greeted us from the shores of a beautiful
lagoon in Vanuatu. I gathered them and put them all together – like a team! So
I could take the picture for you, for your birthday. Can you see them, Clea?
Can you see your birthday present? Aren’t they beautiful? Beautiful, like you
were, like you would have been today.
Loveya, babita. Always.
