To My Mom.

Dear Mom, 


Once upon a time, I was in an English class where I had to write about the people who raised me. I want to share what I wrote about you:

Mom is beautiful – she’s aged so gracefully over her [almost] 48 years. She doesn’t believe in wearing more makeup than just mascara and lipstick, and she doesn’t even need that much to be beautiful. She taught me that being pretty is not about your hair, your clothes, or your makeup – it’s about the way you carry yourself. I guess I learned that from her when she cut her hair. She used to have this beautiful, long, chestnut brown hair, but cut it all off in frustration about ten years ago (or has it been even longer?). She’s sporting a buzz cut now, but I swear, if anyone can pull it off, she can. She still manages to look feminine, even though people like me require long hair to do that.

Mom is pretty tall for a woman, but I think I passed her in height when I was about fifteen. She’s been the shortest one in our family for years, but she looks like a giant when she’s next to people of average height. When I look at my mom, I see just that – a mom. She’s carried four children and delivered them all naturally. She’s made lunches, been a chauffeur , and given out punishments. She’s done all of that motherly stuff for years, and she’s good at it.

You know what else I see when I look at Mom, though? I see an accomplished woman. She went back to school to get a bachelor’s degree when Ryan and Kyle were in elementary school, I was in middle school, and Evan was in high school. She got a 4.0, and she didn’t stop there. After she graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in communication, she went on to get a master’s degree (where she also got a 4.0). I don’t know how she did it, but she did. I look at all that she’s accomplished and think to myself, “If she can do it with four kids, then I can certainly do it with none!” 

Mom is my role model and friend. We didn’t always get along when I was growing up (we had those fights that mother and daughter so often do), but now that I’m grown and gone, I realize how much I took for granted, and how patient my mom must have been. I love that woman so much! Mom is also a sister, daughter, friend, and wife. She’s sister to Staci, Christi, Chauntel, and Scott; daughter to Alan and Lois; friend to almost everyone she meets; and she’s wife to a pretty good man – my Dad. 

I want to add this - Mom, you are the strongest woman I know. You have been through so much in the past few years, and you have kept your head up and given to others selflessly, even when things were difficult for you. You have been there for me when I needed you, and you have shown me love and forgiveness, even when I may not have deserved it. You truly are beautiful, inside and out, and I honestly hope that when I'm a mom, I will be as amazing as you. 

PS: I love you.