8 years ago today, our strong, beautiful daughter Matilda was born. 8 years. Wow! Where does the time go?

This past year has proven to be a positive and very eventful one for Tillie. She’s not only gotten smarter and wiser in school, she’s also grown so much. She’s decided to let her hair grown long, loves to put together her own outfits, and reads chapter books and pretty much anything nonstop! She is vibrant and energetic, too. She is always busy- from cooking with me and helping tend her garden to playing outside and giving her sister lots of (unsolicited) advice. She has recently started wearing glasses for astigmatism and now looks oh so studious. She has matured into a lovely young lady who finds happiness and excitement in each new day!

As the school year winds down, we look forward to more family bonding this summer. Tillie will attend her second year at Camp Odayin, a day camp for kids with heart disease. Watching her play and form friendships with other kids with special hearts is amazing and something we had always hoped she would be able to do. She plans on mastering her bike without training wheels this summer and tackling every set of monkey bars in the east metro area.

These next few days Tillie has special plans to celebrate her birthday in style. She will be getting her ears pierced, eating at her favorite restaurants, taking a few close friends to the salon for manicures, and celebrating being a heart disease survivor at the AHA’s Heart Walk in Minneapolis.

Tillie doesn’t let having a “special heart” hold her back and embraces life to the fullest! She never ceases to amaze us. She’s given us hope and happiness, and on her special day, we are honored to celebrate her amazing life!