Thank you letter to my mama

I am beyond blessed to have my mama and my Mimi in my life. I wrote a post for precious Mimi on her birthday, but neglected to write one for my mom's birthday only 5 days later. My bad, Mom! Your slacker daughter will attempt to make up for it today since it's Mother's Day and all.

Dearest Mama,

Thank you for calling me every December to ask me, "Do you know what today is?" I always do, but I act like I don't so you can tell me your story again. Thank you for birthing me and for reminding me that, despite the hours and hours and HOURS of excruciating pain, I was worth it. {Did I tell the story right? I couldn't remember if it was hours and hours and HOURS of pain, or if it was days of pain, uphill both ways, and on the hottest day of the summer. Please advise.}


Thank you for being such a faithful prayer warrior.

Thank you for sacrificing many of the things you wanted so that Bubba and I could have such wonderful childhoods.

Thanks for loving me through my teenage years, when I was very often not a joy to be around.

Thank you for helping me to set my priorities, and thank you for the frequent reminders to keep them straight.

Thank you for going with me to get my makeup done at Dillard's on the day of my junior prom. Thank you for telling the lady it needed to be redone when you knew I was on the verge of tears. Thank you for never once mentioning that I looked like a drag queen, even though I knew I did. Thank you for letting me wash it all off and helping me redo it when we got home. Thank you for holding off on pictures until I no longer resembled like a drag queen. I will be forever thankful that there is no photographic evidence of that makeover gone wrong.

Thank you for driving three hours to sleep in my dorm room at Auburn, just to keep your freshman daughter from being lonely on a roommate-free weekend.

Thanks for making me feel like the most beautiful, most talented, most incredible creature that ever walked the planet. It's nice to know there's at least one person on the planet who thinks I hung the moon.

Thanks for teaching me to be good to my skin.

Thanks for reminding me you love me every, single time we talk.

Thank you for being such a lovely example of a wonderful wife and mother. If I ever get to take on either of those roles one day, I'll be using your example as my guide.

Thank you for not slapping me silly all those times I rolled my eyes at you.

Thanks for letting me go my own way, try new things, and make my own mistakes, even if you don't agree with what I'm doing.

Thank you for introducing me to gardenias. Thank you for always picking some for me to take home since I'm gardenia-less here. Because of you, they're my favorite flower.

Thank you for being my gardening guru. I'm only just now developing my green thumb, but it's thanks to you and your love of plants.

Thanks for bringing the Golden Girls, Steel Magnolias, and Agatha Christie into my life.

Thank you for never saying, "I told you so", even though you've had 718,530 opportunities to do so.

Thank you for helping to mend my broken heart on more than one occasion and for reminding me to keep on keepin' on.

Thanks for putting together the world's best Easter baskets and Christmas stockings.

Thank you for teaching me that a little goes a long way when it comes to makeup, perfume, and laundry detergent.

Thanks for encouraging me not to settle, ever, in anything.

Thanks for not being afraid to tell me NO during my growing up years. It made me very grumpy at the time, but I sure am thankful for it now.

Thanks for being a goober, so that I feel more comfortable being a goober myself. We're two peas in a weirdo pod.

Thanks for refusing to pay for me to have that awful dye-in-a-box color stripped out of my hair when I was 16. You warned me not to do it, I did anyway, and I was stuck with it. Good call...lesson learned!

Thanks for rubbing my feet and shoulders without ever being asked.

Thank you for mailing me funny cards. My love of snail mail comes honest!

Thank you for fighting like you do every day, just so Bubba and I don't have to be without our Mama.

XOXO,
Doodle Bug