i love you mom. i love that you made all seven of us volcano-shaped mashed potatoes "erupting" with red colored gravy that destroyed the broccoli trees and cheese-cube houses on it's way down. i love that i can't count how many times i've seen you laugh until you cry. i am in awe when i think of throwing a wet, dirty dish rag at bobby, missing and hitting you in the face instead; you were so calm as you peeled it off your glasses and slowly handed it back to me. i love thinking about the hours you spent patiently helping me with my third grade robot project. i love the power you had over us with just one look. i love, though will never really understand, how you rarely have a recipe for something, you "just make it." i love all those songs you were constantly humming, singing or whistling and the fact that you are, to date, the best whistler i have ever heard. i love that you gave us each our very own box of sugar cereal each christmas. i love the motherly pride that frequently beems from your face and how you have always been so quick with your praise. i love that you seem genuinely pleased to talk with me, even if it is the third call full of questions that day. i love the absolute confidence you have always had in dad, yourself and all of your kids, no matter what. i love that you are still one of the very first people i want to talk to about news in my life, good or bad. i love you for always being able to help me see the good and hope in hopelesness, that you have always been a safe haven to come to.
i love realizing more and more each year how much of you is in me. and how much happier my life is for it.
happy birthday week mom. i love you. a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.