The Woman I Call "Mom"

She taught me by example how to love unconditionally
She is an eternal optimist, because she knows a God who can be trusted
She’s not afraid to show emotion
Nor is she afraid to allow others to feel grief or joy in her presence
She’s lap I grew up sitting on
The lap I still sit on when life gets to be too much
She shares my sense of humor and thinks I’m funny
And is the only person who genuinely cares how many calories I burn on the elliptical
She cries when I’m sad
And allows me to say “It hurts”
She prays for me every day - numerous times, I know
Her voice cracks when she is praying and gets to the part where she says, “Lord, I know you love my daughter even more than I do… and I just can’t even fathom that”
She’s my commercial buddy during shared TV shows
Yet also instilled in me my love of reading
She’s the one, who when I’m sick says into the phone “I’ll just sit here and be quiet with you, so you’re not alone when you’re sick”
She rejoiced when the country song came out “You’re mama’s still your biggest fan” and it fast became our song
Through her tutelage I fell in love with words, and have learned from her how to make them do what I want them to do
Her favorite one-liner is “God has a good track record”
And she knows all the right times to say it
She rose above an imperfect growing up experience, to provide an idyllic one for us kids
Her mother heart is huge, as evidenced by all my friends who also call her Mom
She saw worth in me years before I saw it myself
She has all of us kids secretly convinced that we’re her favorite
Her passion for her family is surpassed only by her love for her God
And she’s the one who gave birth to the woman writing this, who knows how very lucky she is to call this amazing woman “Mom”