Rebeca turns 30

16 March 1995

We wish we could tell you,

that it was only us,

who imagined you, who dreamed of you,

who created you,

but that would be a small part of the whole,

of that collection of people, places, professions,

of that chain of random events, through time.

We were, yes,

the first to see you breathe

and hug you

and hear your first cry

and repeat your name

of that, your first beginnings.

We were as responsible

as our fathers and mothers,

and our grandfathers and grandmothers, and their fathers and their grandfathers,

great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers,

until the beginning of something called life.

You are part of generations that lived and died but are still here,

in us, in the languages ​​we speak,

in those small rituals, in the stories and in the presence of your gaze,

your words, your blood and your partner,

part of your brother, your family, your cousins ​​and your friends,

the people who love you,

you are part of them as they are part of you.

Now is your time to extend that chain into the future

with strong bonds, with plans and challenges

with a profound love for life and all those around you.

Build, create, imagine, fight.

But don't forget,

you are an indivisible part of the universe,

you are inhabited by atoms created in its first second,

when there were no stars, no planets, no light, no heat.

But don't forget,

you are part of ancient cultures,

that need you to continue.

But don't forget,

you live in a society that requires all the energy you can give it,

but never alone,

because we are all here by your side,

because things are better when they are built with everyone included,

and life is much better when it is shared.

Remember

you are a daughter, a granddaughter, a wife, a sister, a friend, a life partner,

remember

you are past, present, and future.

From Silvi and Daniel for Rebeca

Read by Silvi on the 16th of March 2025