Mother’s Day will always primarily be about our actual moms. The women who have birthed/fostered/adopted/married into us have helped make us who we are, from teaching us how to use a spoon to helping us pay for college. They are the rocks we lean on when life is down and they are the first people we celebrate with when life us up.
God has blessed me with an amazing mom and grandma and there is not a week that goes by that I am not thankful to have them in my life. To the two of you: I hope you had an amazing Mother’s Day and that you feel celebrated every day of the year. Thank you for everything you are and do. I will always unconditionally love you.
But I have been raised by more than two women and you all deserve thanks and celebration as well. You have all helped expand and fill the role of mother in my life, and I am infinitely grateful.
To the teachers and professors I’ve had throughout my life, thank you. Thank you for understanding me and encouraging me on the bad days when the last thing I want to do is learn. Thank you for working tirelessly to help me reach higher than I ever thought I could. Thank you for challenging me to become not only a better student, but a better person. Thank you for believing in me even when I don’t believe in myself. Thank you for seeing not only who I am, but who I can become.
To the women of my church, thank you. Thank you for listening to doubts, answering questions, and guiding me through my life and my faith. Thank you for the prayers you have prayed over me and for the ones I don’t even know about. Thank you for opening your homes to Bible studies and sleepovers and your hearts to girls that you know may grow and leave. Thank you for remembering birthdays, meeting boyfriends, and mailing care packages when we leave for college. Thank you for being the body of Christ to me and truly making church feel like home.
To the friends that have mothered me in so many ways, thank you. Thank you for telling me to go to bed when I’m tired and stressed and for waking me up when I’ve used all my class skips. Thank you for telling me when I look cute (and when I don’t) and for loaning out your closet when I’m tired of mine. Thank you for helping me make hard decisions and for listening when I am lost. Thank you for every late night conversation and every piece of encouragement. You are some of the dearest pieces of my heart.
My life would be so much less without all of you. Thank you for every role you have played, no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small.’ Never forget the impact you make on every person you come across.
Love,
Your Legacy