photo by Benjy Feen at Google Headquarters
When I was at the 140 Conference in San Francisco last month, Jeff Pulver shared a wonderful perspective that all of our tweeting and blogging and flickring and facebooking and general social media shananigans will become a digital scrapbook for our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Because everything we say lingers on the internet, they will be able to understand us like no generation before in the history of time.
Can you imagine if you could search your great-grandma’s Twitter stream? What would that tell you about yourself?
It kind of makes you think a little harder about what you post, doesn’t it?
With that in mind, I wanted to go on the permanent digital record today, October 1, 201o to tell my baby girl Angela Rose happy third birthday.
I am sitting in a hotel room in San Francisco as she is driving with her daddy and brother to the heart of the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona.
I miss her sweet face and deep embrace and silly laugh.
I love everything about being her mom. She grounds me and expands my heart and reminds me that sometimes makeup needs to go all over the walls, not just on your face.
She makes me want to do great work, so she will be proud of my legacy and inspired to do something deeply satisfying and meaningful in her career.
She is a magic eraser of any self-doubt or insecurity or flaw or concern. I am whole and perfect in her three-year old eyes.
If you were here in my arms Angela, I would hug you tight, put my lips close to your ear and whisper the question I ask you every day:
Who is my girl?
“I am,” you would whisper back.
And your secret smile and tight hug would tell me in that moment, imprinted through the rest of time, that I am blessed to be your mother.
Happy birthday my sweet, sweet baby girl. I love you.
That made my eyes well-up with tears. I have a sweet baby girl too 🙂 What a blessing.
What a beautiful message, Pam.
This entire post brought a lump to my throat!
An incredible thought. I wonder what my great grandmother would have tweeted.
What a great perspective. Thank you for sharing thoughts in such a lovely post. It definitely makes me think…what would our ancestors have thought of such a thing. On a lighter note, kind of hard to imagine my dressed-in-black grandmother on her blog 🙂
[…] When I was at the 140 Conference in San Francisco last month, Jeff Pulver shared a wonderful perspective that all of our tweeting and blogging and flickring and facebooking and general social media shananigans will become a digital scrapbook for our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Because everything […] Original post […]
Wow pam, way to make me emotional 🙂
This is such a scary, but inspiring thought. We have the opportunity to talk to leave breadcrumbs and messages that they’ll read even after we’re gone.
Makes you re-think the real meaning of social media doesn’t it?
beautiful post 🙂
oh heavens Pam — you made me weepy and now I want to talk to my mom. 🙂
HB Angela Rose!
I doubt all those information would be saved for generations. Even now I cannot see some of the links shared on Facebook few months back.
It’s funny you should say that about the twitter/blog/fb stream being a digital scrapbook for our descendants. Wonderful thing to say. This has been on my mind lately before I found this blog but I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else.
Today I got to stay home and fly solo with my 5 year old girl and 2 year old boy. Often we older folks spend a lot of time in our heads – worrying, planning, thinking. But when you stop, and simply toss the ball or colour a picture or read a book with your kid, it’s absolutely magical. I loved your line about being whole and perfect in her eyes.
Happy Birthday Angela Rose!
You made me cry… Your daughter is lucky to have you as a mum.
Now this was some touching stuff. Someday when I become a father I look forward to experiencing those same feelings. You’re a great mom.
Happy birthday dear Angela Rose!
There is nothing more important than love. Happy Birthday, Angela Rose. Happy Mother’s Day, Pam.
Happy Birthday to Angela Rose. And to Happy Day to you too, Pam. Thanks for your words and for reminding us about what is important. : )
Thank you for sharing your breath-taking expression of love between you and your daughter. Happy Birthday to both you and your daughter. xoxo
That is such a gorgeous picture! Many happy thoughts to you both x
[…] in February, but I never published it, and if I’m truthful, I forgot all about it. Reading Pam Slim’s post about her daughter’s birthday today reminded me, and I decided to dust it off and put it here. A little morbid maybe, but our […]
Happy birthday to Angela! It must be hard for you to be away….at least you’re having a lot of fun so the time will pass quickly. And many exciting things to tell her when you get back!
Happy birthday, beautiful Angela Rose. May you always know the world is whole and perfect, and you yourself are whole and perfect too.
And happy mom-of-the-birthday-girl day to you, Pam.
Love to you both,
Hiro
Happy birthday, Angela! You obviously make the world a better place by being in it. And you are a very blessed little girl to have Pam as your mom!
Pam, thanks for sharing this sweet post. I feel much the same way about my own daughter — who is turning 2 tomorrow, making her exactly 1 year and 1 day Angela’s junior. I especially appreciate that your post does not once mention that you feel guilty for not being with her on her birthday (something that I will have to do — for the first time — next month when my older daughter turns 5, and I’ll be enroute home from facilitating a workshop in Nepal.) Thank you for the excellent role modeling, and for the reminder to focus on why we do what we do in the world!
Oh how beautiful. My daughter is 2 1/2 and I felt your words so intensely. They are absolutely incredible, aren’t they? Nothing like a hug from your baby girl. And they will always be our baby girls. (I never understood that when my mother said it to me. Now I get it.)
I’m a sucker- my 5 yr old girl is my kryptonite as well