Dear Mom,
First of all, I want to thank you. Thank you for all the things you did so willingly that I overlooked as something I should take for granted. Thank you for being there when I was crying over another dumb boy and reassuring me it wouldn't be like that forever (you were right). Thank you for picking me up from practices and games when I couldn't drive, and the hours you spent in the driver's seat of our van listening to me complain about everything possible. For telling me it's okay to need help and to accept it but never to give up on myself. For the late night snacks, you brought me when I couldn't figure out physics and was on the verge of tears. And mostly for loving me so fiercely that you never gave up on me even when I was at the lowest of lows.
I will cherish every moment we have this last month and every memory made before. Every DQ run and Target haul will feel special not because it won't happen again, but because it is one of the last times it will be a normal occurrence in my life. Moving away from home for good will most likely be one of the hardest things I have to do. As you very well know I am not a fan of change and this is like uprooting an entire forest and replanting it in the desert. But I know you will be there every step of the way (thank you in advance for that) and that if I call in the middle of the night I can trust you to pick up the phone. I'm sorry for how much I might need to lean on you and your words the first few weeks (okay, maybe months), but I know you'll tell me not to apologize.
I will miss sitting at the breakfast bar doing my homework and hearing you come in through the mudroom door—a cheerful greeting typically being your first words. I will miss your pesto and your banana bread and the warm feeling I feel when I walk in the door and smell you making them. I will miss you saying goodnight to me every single night no matter what time I got home. And talking to you about the juicy details of my not-so-juicy life after a night out with my friends or should I say a night watching Disney movies in one of my friends' basement until 2 a.m.
I would also like to credit you for my making it through high school. Without you, I don't think I could have survived the inevitable drama that accompanies a teenage girl or the midnight study sessions after a late soccer game. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have persevered through classes I thought would break me or made it to every football game before kickoff. The next chapter of my life will sadly be three hours away from you, but don't think you've gotten rid of me quite yet because I know that you'll always have good leftovers.
Love,
Your Daughter
