Dear Dear-One-Of-My-Heart,

I’ve known you for what seems a century, and I don’t think I’ve ever truly expressed myself in how much I love you. You’re an amazing person, and I’ve no idea what I’d do without you. You’ve seen me at my best, and you’ve seen me at my worst. Both times you’ve loved me unconditionally. You’ve done so much for me, you’ve cried, you’ve sacrificed, you’ve cheered, you’ve laughed, and you’ve supported and helped me to grow to matter what.

While you may not have remembered for the longest time where in the world I wanted to visit the most (it’s Morocco by the way) you took me places with you to where I’d never been. While you may not know my friends like I do, and while sure you can’t remember their names half the time, you always remember who made me cry and who made my smile. Every time you meet a friend of mine you welcome them with open arms. Every time I ask if you want to meet a friend of mine you smile and say “I’d love to.”

When I talk about the future, you dream only of the best for me. But you also keep me in check. You make sure I’m realistic about everything. You make sure I think of all the important things like friends and family and time with The Lord. Without you to keep me grounded, I’d likely dream of things that don’t exist like teleportation (like Samantha from Bewitched), free and unlimited food, and trips to faraway and exotic places (like Morocco). You’ve done silly things with and for me, like taking the longest rout to the store so I could catch all of the Pokémon or buying me artichokes just because you know I love them.

It’s not because of all this that I love you, Dear-One-Of-My-Heart, but rather because of who you are as a person.

You are gentle. You are kind. You are compassionate. You are courageous. You are strong. You are beautiful. You are all of these things and more. You’ve blessed me in more ways that I can count. You love unconditionally, even when I yell at you or ask you to leave me alone. You never tire of loving me, though I know I exaust you to the point where you’ve dozed off during more than one movie we’ve seen together.

So, mom, I want to say thank you. I know I don’t really say say it often, but I love you.

Your daughter and Sunshine,