Dear Sasha

As i was dropping Imani off to school this morning, moments after we've discussed why she can only wear lip gloss when she's over 16, she reaches her school bag and pulls out an envelope. I can see it is sealed with a brown masking tape.

It a re-used envelope from a bank statement or one of those formal letters, but now it had her beautiful handwriting, with a few flower drawings on it, well coloured and addressed to Sasha.

So I asked about Sasha, who is now her new best friend.

I asked her about the contents of the letter, and how she started the letter. She said she started with "Dear Sasha, Thank you for being my best friend".

I turned away to blink a tear drop, and I asked her why she was writing to Sasha. She said she was inviting her for her birthday, but was also telling her that this year, her birthday will be held in Kisumu, with her aunt(my sister) and her family.

I don't know exactly what it is about that whole experience talking about letters is what got me all fuzzy eyes, or it is yet another reminder of how fast she is growing.

She is spending the weekend with family friends, and what amazes me is how early she plans for it. Later this afternoon she and her dad passed by my office as he dropped her home, and she asked about her Friday guitar classes, wondering how she will go to her friend Ayana's house from guitar school tomororw. So, she has planned to pack her weekend clothes today, and put them in my car tomorrow morning so she goes straight from her music school to Ayana's house.

It the complexity of her mind that truly fascinates me.

She is 5 years old going on 15.

She still loves to read, and we made a deal in January: For every book she reads, she will narrate to me the story, and get a reward each time. She's just finished reading " Why the tortoise has a cracked shell" and now we're off to the skating rink at Panari next Saturday.

We're growing up fast, but she always manages to bring out the child in me.

Today, Im celebrating my Imani.