Love

With Valentine's approaching, everyone is thinking about their crushes, boy/girl friends or spouses.

 But this year, my Valentine is going to be my mom.

Don't worry, I still love The Boy as much as ever --- but recent events have made me all the more aware how much I love my mom and how I would be absolutely lost without her, even though I daily realize how much of her is in me (the love of presentation, the slightly overbearing need to help, the talking to strangers in the supermarket...)

Mom always made Valentine's day special at our house growing up. Like most holidays, I'd get a themed pair of socks and other fun little gifts. Even though I never had a real (boy) Valentine, it was a fun day to celebrate with my family.

So now, bear with me as I write this -- my Valentine to my mom:

Mom, for-

Holding my hand when we rode home from school

Believing in the importance of celebrating

Telling me to loosen up and get a B

Teaching me to love clothes -- and a good bargain

Not laughing when that led to me buying suede platforms and wearing them in public

Being a bleeding-heart animal lover

Tucking me in long after it was normal

Showing me Paris, and a million other amazing places

Never sheltering me from the world, but teaching me how to deal with sorrow and injustice

Sharing that the cure for a hangover is Sprite and a cold pillow/floor

Giving me an out whenever I couldn't say "I don't want to do that" to my friends

Encouraging me to be a strong, independent woman

Listening to me endlessly evaluate the decisions I needed to make to become one

Reminding me that life isn't fair, but I should be

Mothering my friends and my boyfriend -- they love you so much!

Loving me, and Dad and the cat, hard, and fast and so strong it sometimes takes my breath away.

Thank you.

I love you.

* all pictures via Pinterest.