To My Daughter

I don't know what you will look like
but I know you will be beautiful
I don't know your name yet
but I know it will fit your personality
I will hold you in my arms when I first see you
and tell you how much I love you
and tell you I will try to protect you as much as I can
but I know I won't be able to
When you start crawling and then walking
I'm going to baby proof every single thing in sight
and follow you around everywhere because
I can't see you hurt
but I know you'll have to fall sometimes
and all I can do is comfort you
When I teach you how to ride a bike
you will wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads
and you will not convince me otherwise because
I can't see you hurt
but a scraped knee only hurts for a little while
When I drop you off on your first day of school
I will worry about how the other kids will treat you
and if you come home crying about someone
teasing you or calling you names,
best believe it will take everything in me to remain calm
because you are my baby
and I can't see you hurt
When you're old enough to like boys
I will tell you that they're stupid
and crushes only hurt for a little while
so don't get too caught up
But then when you're 17 and you've fallen in love
and he tells you he doesn't love you anymore
or that there is someone else
I won't know what to do
because that kind of pain is deep
and when I'm holding you in my arms
and you're crying into my chest
asking how could this have happened
don't be upset with me when I say nothing
because I'll be crying too
That pain is all too familiar to me
and for you to experience it too will break me
and I can't fix it for you this time
and that hurts me to watch you in that much pain
and I know the pain won't go away over night
I'm not ready 
I'm not ready to see you experience that pain
but I will hold you and tell you
you are smart
you are beautiful
And trust me, I know it won't make you feel better
and that kills me
but you will get through it
and you won't be alone
I know you'll be strong
Just like the generations of women before you
Just like me.