Eighteen years ago, I drew a birth announcement. It was very risky since a cartoon version of a family member can come back to haunt you.
And that is exactly what happened last week! My mother-in-law printed some pictures to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. One of the prints was the birth announcement I drew to announce the big day. My daughter appeared amused. I had to clarify that no cartoon could ever be as cute as the real thing. To prove it, here is a photo of the two of us. We both looked much younger then than now!
Heaven knows I’ve made my share of mistakes with my kids. Drawing cartoon versions of them is probably one of the least mistakes I’ve made. One of the worse mistakes was when I struggled between getting my freelance work done and spending time with my kids. As much as I loved illustrating for books and magazines, it all seems to trivial now compared to the time I had with my them.
My dear daughter, you are now a young lady. You have brightened my world. And I have cherished every moment with you. Happy eighteenth birthday!