Mom

I've always said that I can't imagine why someone could think there is not a God after learning about the human body. All it can do. The way it works so perfectly and divine. It's so incredibly spiritual, I wonder how anyone can question the existence of God--not only in the miracle of His creation of life, but of how he weaves a mother and child together. It's not only instant; it's permanent.

My childhood (and beyond) was full of songs, laughter, and the Lord. I can thank my mother for that. It was my mom who introduced me to the the brilliance and pure joy of reading, Talking Baby, and everything that is wonderful about being a little girl.

It was also my mom that answered a lot of my initial questions about Jesus. She then watched with tears in her eyes as I stood in front of the church and acknowledged my desire to be baptized. That is something that you can't put just a "thank you" on. She helped me verbalize and solidify my most important decision as a human being.

Happy Mother's Day to my two favorite women - my Mom and my Meemaw.


I'm so extremely blessed to get to share my life with both of you!

Thank you for teaching me compassion, grace, ambition, and sassiness-how to love, how to laugh.

I love you.

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Dear Mom,

Thank you. It’s so hard to even start with the thank yous to you because I’m not sure which is the most important. Are the little thing or the big things the best? I’m not sure, but I know that you were there for all of it.

Thank you for singing to me when I was little. Thanks for teaching me about Jesus. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you made just to do the little things for me like staying up all night to make my spider Halloween costume and “volunteering” to play the piano for my school plays.


Thank you for nursing me back to health more times that I can count. Thank you for not hating me even after I screamed for days because I had colic; I don't remember that, but I'm pretty sure you'll never forget it. Thank you for staying up all night with me when I thought my ankle was going to fall off. Thank you for rubbing my toes for HOURS, the only thing that helped the pain that night. I know how tired you were. Thank you.

Thank you for dropping everything in your life to make sure Katie and I were okay. Thank you for taking off work to go to every single doctor's appointment, and thank you for never keeping score. Thank you for never missing a school play or dinky awards ceremony. Thank you for being my biggest fan.

Thank you for being dependable and available. Thank you for being honest and open and sharing your life with me. Thank you for giving me life. I'm sorry that I caused all those horrible back aches, and I'm sorry that you didn't sleep until I was 5. Thank you for forgiving me. ;) Thank you for nurturing my dreams and believing that I can be anything I want to be. Thank you for the never ending support and guidance. Oh my gracious, look at how dazed and exhausted you look!

Thank you for recognizing the moments when I need a little pick-me-up (without me saying a word). Thank you for taking up for me when that stupid volleyball coach in high school really screwed me over. Thank you for always knowing just what to say. Thank you for laughing with me and rejoicing when I got into graduate school. Thank you for always caring about how I was doing in school and making sure I was doing my absolute best. Thank you for hating Kat as much as I do. Thank you for not expecting perfection from me, but not settling if you know I'm not doing the best I could.

Thank you for trusting me so much that I didn't need a curfew and trusting me enough to know that I can make (mostly) good decisions for myself. Thank you for staying calm during freak outs (well, kind of), and teaching me how to handle conflict without killing someone. Thank you for caring about me like no one else can.

Thank you for making me food during finals so I didn't have to stop studying and thank you for mailing me encouraging notes before I took those tests (even though we lived in the same town). Thank you for believing in me and meeting me outside the Physics building to "talk me down from the ledge" before I took that Anatomy test. You wiped away those tears and made me believe that it was going to be okay. And you were right. :) Thank you for teaching us how important family is; thank you for laughing with us.

Thank you for standing tall when life throws it's curve balls your way. Thank you for loving our Dad through the good times and bad. And thank you for never putting us in the middle of your marriage; we didn't belong there.

Thank you for listening to stupid high school girl drama and then knight-in-shining-whatever drama a few years later. Thank you for taking us to more concerts than I can count, even though it was the last thing you wanted to be doing. (I do think it's time you quit denying how much you liked 'NSync, though. Hehe.)

Thank you for reminding me to set high standards for myself in relationships, jobs, and daily life. Thank you for crying when I cry and always being such a strong source of reason for me. Thank you for showing me grace in adversity and having the highest of expectations for me. Thank you for believing in me and having more patience than Job.

Thank you for holding me tight on the day I was born and holding me tight in those dark hours after my first real heartbreak. I was scared, I was alone, and I was completely overwhelmed. Only you could understand and help me to get through it. Thank you for never leaving my side. Thank you for helping me put my life back together when I know how much you were hurting, too. Thank you for being proud of me and never forgetting to say "I love you".

Thank you for blessing me with the best big sister a girl could ever have. Thank you for teaching us so early how much we would come to value a healthy relationship with one another (you were right, again). Thank you for nurturing our bond (even when we were both teenagers---I'll never know how you stayed sane during that, by the way).

Thank you for allowing us to meet so many amazing "big names" in the legal profession and politics. I'll admit that I never understood why, but I know now that you just wanted us to be well rounded adults. Thank you for taking us on amazing vacations so we could see the world outside of Texas. I'm glad I got to see my first play on Broadway when I was sitting next to you. Thank you for that. Thank you for sharing your hard earned money with us, never once leaving us a bill.


Thank you for being there to listen to us talk every single day when I know that some days you just want to do something else. Anything else!

Thank you for providing for us, never once complaining and never once throwing it back in our faces. Thank you for working so hard and teaching me how to work hard and want the best for myself. I hope I make you proud.

Thank you for always treating me like your little girl while still treating me with respect and dignity. Thank you for being all these things to me when I was 24 months old, and still now that I'm 24 years old. As I've gotten older, I've begun to love it when people say to me "you are just like your mother". That's the best compliment EVER, and it makes me so proud; there is no greater honor than being your daughter.

And most of all, thank you for being my mother, and thank you for being Katie's mother. And thank you for being you. Happy Mother's Day.

I love you.

Love,

Emily