Our daughter Caitlin has inspired us for 30-years upon this day.
How can 30-years seem like a short span? Maybe it is a short span.
Cait has filled it up with plenty of love and talent and boldness.
Cait is great!

I remember the books she drew and wrote when she barely had learned how to read.
I remember the day at Sewellcrest Park when she snagged a liner to begin a triple play.
I remember how she fought hard and steadily to win her first high school tennis match.

Her paintings inspire awe. Her curiosity is alive and driving.
Her sense of fair play is a rock, a firm foundation, the best possible anchor.

Animals come first for Cait.
She studies animals and humans with an artist’s eye for truth and the beauty in life.
Health, kindness, welfare and fairness are the cadence of the drum that her heart beats.

Play the drum, Cait!—a kind and lively tune—a reel of wonder
for a parent to admire in that baby girl now grown 30-years and on the go!
Convictions of goodness, a morality of kindness, an eye for beauty
and a beauty in profile—my daughter!

Happy Birthday, Cait! Love, Dad

Images: Caitlin wades in the Oneonta punchbowl; “Impala in the Sun” by Caitlin