to my mother

with mother's day tomorrow i have been thinking a lot about motherhood.
thinking of motherhood has in turn made me think a lot about my mother.
on the eve of such a lovely day i would like to write about my mother.

thank you mother for teaching me that you can find adventure in everything.

mom you taught me the value of hard work- thanks for making me sweep, vacuum, do dishes, fold clothes, help with my siblings, cook etc, etc, etc...

and thanks even more for making me redo all those things if i didn't do them right the first time;
you taught me the power of doing a job well done and doing it right the first time.

you always make me feel beautiful. inside and out.
because of you i am confident in who i am without the need of others approval.

while i hated it growing up- when i came to you complaining of something/someone thanks for asking,
 "what did you do to them?" or "what did you do?" or "what happened?"
because you did i learned to take responsibility for my own actions and look at the reasoning for the actions of others.

mom you're love of history made me appreciate the past.
with this appreciation i developed a respect for my elders, service men and women, and my ancestry.

"i'm not your friend, i'm your mother."
thanks for not being my friend when i was younger- i needed a mother. (and now we get to be friends.)

thanks for not always picking me up when i fell down.
since you didn't i learned to pick myself up.

but in turn thanks for always being there if i really did need your help.
from this i learned the power of being dependable.

you always trusted me. (or so i always felt.)

thanks for saying, "i trust you but i don't trust them." (i finally get what that means.)

i always wanted to do what was right because you trusted me. due to this i avoided a lot of potentially regrettable situations. thanks mom. 

thanks for letting me be who i am. 

for always nurturing my individuality. 

you drove me to become a better me not a better someone else- become who i always was and am. 

"just come home." (thanks for always saying this.)  

you made a refuge for a home. 

a home where i always wanted to be. 

thanks for teaching me the power of laughter and finding the humor in things. 

my life has been incredibly happy and non-drama filled because of this lesson.  

mom thanks for foregoing wearing the nicest/newest clothes so i always could.

mom thanks for giving your all so we could have all we needed. 

because i saw you triumph over struggle

i don't fear struggling. 

thanks for always putting us kids before yourself-

because you did i had a childhood of dreams.

since you always put God first i don't think twice about doing the same.   

you are the only mom for me. 

you teach me every day. 

you are the reason i am me.

i love you mom.