I remember the phone call when I first heard that I was to become a Father,
I remember telling my parents about you as we sat beneath their apple tree one late Summer evening and the sheer joy that it brought to them,
I remember my Mother running to tell her best friend,
I remember the night before you were born,
The midnight call to the ambulance and the blue flashing light as it slowly moved between the terraced houses to collect us.
I remember your first moments, holding you for the first time and singing Happy Birthday to you.
I remember sitting with a friend the day before you first came home and as we listened to Pachelbel's Canon in D I simply wanted to cry as the music seemed to tell the story of what your life would be, the music beginning so simply and returning always to the same theme but each time gathering in more richness and complexity as the life was led and experiences gained.
I remember collecing you and bringing you home in a taxi and carrying you through the door to your first home,
I remember the look of wonder in your eyes when you first saw a Christmas Tree,
I remember how you love my own Mum and how she could listen to you in a way that no-one else could,
I remember how shy but how beautiful you were when you sung,
I remember how being in the sea makes you come to life my dearest Selkie,
I remember how proud you were when you and I climbed a mountain in the NorthWest Highlands and your pleasure in the beer that we had to celebrate,

I remember how difficult school could be for you but how bravely you faced it and how hard you worked,
I remember feeling so thrilled when I heard your exam results,

And I remember all of this and so much more today, because today is the day that you begin your adult life, my darling daughter.