Guess who's turning 21 on Sunday? My baby girl

May 6, 1986, this child all of 9lbs 4oz decided that she was coming into this world on her own terms. I barely made it to the hospital in time! Sarah a very good friend in my life at the time, rushed all the way from Don Mills to go to the hospital with me. She loved kids and she often babysat Robyn and then of course babysat Danielle as well. Within, 4-1/2 hours of the beginning of contractions, Danielle Marie was born at 10:34 am. The doctor and all the nurses that were around at the time kept saying, she is beautiful. What a gorgeous baby! She was, just lying there, looking at everyone with eyes wide open and such beautiful pink skin and was absolutely adorable.

From the very beginning, I knew I had a rascal on my hands! She was always smiling, always laughing, she barely cried. When you would wake up in the morning, you would hear her gooing and mumbling to herself and you would go in and look down in her crib and you would say, "Good Morning", she would grin from ear to ear. She always awakened with the biggest smile on her face and eventually she would be standing and waiting for you to walk in and say "Good Morning, Danielle".

On the many occasions when she started to walk around, she would be up to her mischievious behavior and on one occasion I found her in my bedroom closet fast asleep after opening all the wrapped Christmas presents I had hidden there. She had opened the gifts and was having so much fun playing she fell asleep.
Many times she would have taken the sugar bowl and hid away under her bed so she could eat the sugar. She would also put anything into her hair, her food, baby creams, vaseline, and on one occasion while visiting her Aunt Joanne and her cousins, decided to go exploring and found the Water Paints that Aunt Joanne had put away in her cabinet. Next thing we knew, Joanne and I were having a cup of tea in the kitchen and in walked Ms. Danielle with red paint from head to toe. I was at first shocked but then I couldn't help but laugh. We could only see the whites of her eyes, she was a red head for quite a while. Unfortunately, Aunt Joanne couldn't get the red paint out of her carpet!

Danielle loved to pose for pictures, she was such a happy child with a great personality. She would ask the strangest questions. In this picture, she is the Flower girl for her Uncle's wedding in Halifax and is enjoying every minute of it. Danielle, was always invited out to people's houses for lunch with their kids and wherever she went, people would always say, she is such a sweet girl. She at one time came home from Sunday lunch and we asked her what she had for lunch. She said, Crumbs and other stuff. We said, Crumbs? She said, yes, Crumbs. So Kevin's mom phoned the lady to ask what they had for lunch because she was curious. They had Hashbrowns with their lunch but to Danielle, it was crumbs.

Danielle always excelled at school, and when she started to play trumpet in Grade 7 her natural talent was shining through. Her teacher encouraged her to join a Marching band called the NORTHSTAR Marching Band. Danielle marched in the Calgary Stampede Parade one year and was always chosen from her class for special occasions when they would have students from all over Southern Alberta come together for a few days under a famous conductor and play at the Jubliee or at the University of Calgary. She was always chosen for HONOR Band concerts here in Calgary because she was a great trumpet player and she was committed.

Danielle was always first trumpet and her teacher Mrs. Fossey, really believed in Danielle and saw in Danielle the potential that existed in her natural talent. Danielle still is in touch with Mrs. Fossey today and they would meet for coffee when she came to visit Calgary.

Danielle was always actively involved with volunteering at school with Peer groups and outside school as well. At one point, Danielle was not happy with her Math mark and was going to school by day, working part-time and going to night school to bring her mark up. I felt it was too much for her to take on because she had a lot of travelling to do as well as each place was in different areas of the city. Danielle wanted to SUCCEED and EXCEL and she did.

Whenever I visited "Parent-Teacher" interviews or spoke with people that Danielle was interacting with, her supervisors, or bosses, I usually got the same thing...."Danielle is a very intelligent girl", "she is capable of anything" and she is well liked. She always impressed her teachers and supervisors with her ability to communicate extremely well, her ability to conduct herself as a superior customer service employee and she was able to calm down irrate customers and people. Danielle has quite the ability to debate and was on many debating teams in school.

I think the hardest part sometimes is for us to believe in ourselves and I think with Danielle these days, she is coming into her own and learning about herself. Danielle is making strides in her life to learn who she is and what she wants out of this life. She is moving forward as an adult and living life on her terms. We all have no doubt that Danielle will be successful at whatever she choses to do in her life and we are proud of her!

Danielle always seemed to have a heart for the down-trodden! She would on many occasions call to ask if we could take in some person who was going through great difficulties at home or with their parents divorce or whatever it was because Danielle wanted to save them and help them. We of course could not take in other kids but on one occasion did let one of her friends stay with us for a couple of days because she ran away from home and was going through some physical abuse but her parents knew she was with us. Danielle has always been a very sensitive child with a soft heart and although we did not really notice it until much later because Danielle was always happy, making fun, laughing and making others laugh, we didn't see the full scope of our Danielle. Danielle brought sunshine into our lives the minute she came into this world. We of course did not realize that she held everything inside and did not want to hurt anyone or have her troubles interfere with anyone elses life. She always aimed to please others! Danielle has a great heart which can at times burden her with others problems! She always sees "THE PERSON" in people. When she volunteered at a Mental Heath Institution in Generic Care, she didn't see the person's sickness, she saw the person and I found that to be amazing. Most of us will not feel comfortable around those who are mentally ill and who are hospital bound. Danielle was kind and saw them as people.

We are sorry we won't be there for your birthday this year. 21 is a milestone and it is a "RIGHT OF PASSAGE" to make changes, decisions and move forward as an adult. We want you to know you are dearly loved and cherished and I hope you have a wonderful "21st" birthday. You have a wonderful life ahead of you! We are thinking of you and WE LOVE YOU! See you soon!