Happy Mother's Day, Mama.

My mother is the best kind of mother.  She is fierce and no nonsense and sensitive and loving.  She believes in me, and she trusts my ability to make my own decisions.

Even though she finds it bittersweet to watch me grow and turn into an adult, she tries her best to trust that she's raised me right, and she has.


Because she and I are the same kind of woman: independent, stubborn, and passionate, I know that letting me get married and leave home is one of the hardest things she's ever done because it's the sure sign that I'm grown, that her baby daughter is now old enough to have her own life and her own husband and her own family and her own decisions.  But I also know that it's one of her greatest victories and accomplishments because she poured her heart and soul into my life, and she still does.


It is because of these things that I pretend to miss her less than I do and I pretend sometimes that things are better than they are.  It is because of these things that I share my joys and ideas and victories with her freely.  I know she does the same for me. 

I adore my mother's guidance, the way that she always goes behind me or beside me or in front of me.  She is always where I need her to be.  She is not interested in getting credit or protecting herself; she's interested in protecting me, and she always has.  

I respect my mother because she always tells me the truth, which can be completely infuriating.  But I know she tells me the truth even when I don't want to hear it because she expects me to tell her the truth even when she doesn't want to hear it; she finds this equally infuriating, I'm sure.

I love my mother because she mothered me and mothered me and mothered me, and as I've gotten older and we've felt the growing pains of our relationship, she's begun to befriend me.  Finally we're starting to realize that the roles are changing, and even though we've both been resistant, I think we're starting to work it out.  I no longer need the same kind of mother that she was when I was young, and she no longer needs the same kind of daughter.  No, we are much past those days.  We are moving forward to the brighter days ahead where our relationship is one of mutual respect and friendship and trust. And even though she'll always be my mother and our relationship will ebb and flow, she'll always be my very best friend, the first person who really knew me for me and loved me just the same.

Yes, my mother is the very best kind of mother, and I am so very grateful.



P.S. This is day eighteen of my twenty-one day blogging adventure. I'll say it's going well because that's making me feel a little more sane.