To My Beloved Son

Gisele and Louis

My precious son, you’re turning seventeen years old today...

I can say the number over and over, and yet I still find it hard to believe. Seventeen years have gone by, and somehow it feels like yesterday. Time is a mysterious thing it can seem endless, yet it slips away before we even realize it. I simply haven't seen the years pass.

I remember that unforgettable day 5th July 2009, with breathtaking clarity. That day, the doctors gently placed you in my arms, and for the very first time, our eyes met.

I saw your big, beautiful eyes. I gazed at your tiny face so beautiful, so peaceful, so perfect in my eyes. In that moment, everything I had lived until then seemed to have led me to you. My heart overflowed with a joy I had never known before. I simply thought to myself: "I'm a mother... I am the mother of this beautiful baby."

Even today, whenever I look at you, my heart is filled with the same admiration, tenderness, and gratitude. Sometimes I still wonder how God could have entrusted me with such a precious gift. I know that every child is a blessing, but I cannot help thanking the Lord for giving me both the responsibility and the privilege of being your mother.

Without a doubt, you are one of the most beautiful people I have ever known.

And when I speak of your beauty, I am not thinking first of your face although I think you are incredibly handsome. I am thinking of the light that shines from within your soul. I am thinking of your heart.

Your love is genuine. Your joy is contagious. Your compassion runs deep. Your innocence is a strength. Your sense of justice is remarkable. Your intelligence is a gift.

You may not even realize it, but God has used you countless times to transform my own heart. Without saying a single word, you have taught me what it truly means to love. You have reminded me that joy is not the absence of hardship, but the choice to trust God even when the road is difficult.

You inspire me more than you will ever know.

God alone knows the silent battles you fight. He alone knows the tremendous effort it takes for you each day to live in a world that does not always understand extraordinary people like you.

And that smile... that beautiful smile rarely leaves your face.

To me, it has become a living reminder that true joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not of circumstances.

You are also the one through whom God inspired the birth of the Nione Initiative Foundation.

Without you, this work would most likely never have come into existence.

You taught me to see people through the eyes of the heart rather than through the eyes of the world. You taught me to seek what is essential instead of what is superficial, to value dignity over appearances, and to recognize worth beyond differences.

You taught me that one life can change the way another sees the world.

Today, my prayer is that God will continue to help us be a voice for those who cannot speak, a comforting presence for those who feel forgotten, and a living testimony of His love for you and for every person He places in our path.

My son,

Long before I loved you, God loved you.

Long before I dreamed of you, He knew you.

Before you ever took your first breath, He had already written your story.

And I know that He will continue to walk beside you every day of your life.

I pray that He will protect you.

That He will keep your heart pure in a world that is not always pure.

That He will develop every gift He has placed within you.

That He will shape you into a man filled with compassion, wisdom, courage, and humility.

And that through your life, many people will come to know His love.

I do not know everything the future holds for you.

But I know one thing with absolute certainty:

You are not here by accident.

You were created for a purpose.

You are an answer from God.

You are a blessing to: our family, to everyone who will have the privilege of crossing your path and perhaps, yes, even to the world.

Thank you for giving me the most beautiful title I could ever have: Mom.

Always remember that I will forever be immensely proud of you. Being your mother is one of the greatest honors God has ever given me. I love you with a love that words will never be able to contain.

Happy seventeenth birthday, my beloved son.

May the Lord make His face shine upon you, grant you His peace, guide every step you take, and faithfully accomplish the wonderful purpose He has prepared for your life.

With all the love a mother can hold in her heart,

Mom