Momsie

Mom, momsie, momsicle, mom pop,woman,Lisa, lady,

Happy 29th birthday, again. I swear you don't look a day over 36.

It's funny to me that it takes a big day like the day of your birth to be raw, honest, and open enough to tell you how much I love you, because, I don't say or show it enough. I know I was a hard child to birth and raise. You not only busted every blood vessel in your face trying to get me out, but you also probably had some pretty nasty emotional bruising as well from all I put you through. But, for some reason unbeknownst to me, you kept at it and kept loving me even when I didn't deserve your love. You pushed me, challenged me, angered me, and frustrated me. I am absolutely certain you would say "right back at ya" right now if this were a two way conversation.

But somewhere along the way, things started to change for us. I think going away to college was huge. It allowed us to be apart and actually miss each other. It allowed me to really see how much you actually did for me. It is a transition that turned us from mother and daughter to best friends. It turned from you telling me how pretty I looked in my prom dress to me telling you how beautiful you are in the dressing room.It stopped being all about me, finally. I started to see you less as a mom, and more as the woman you are. A women of beauty, class, courage, and conviction. A woman of faith, humbleness, and might. I could say, a woman of gentleness, but I would be lying, because you are the fiercest warrior I know.

You gave up a college education because you had to get a job. You gave up a life of selfishness because you had us. You gave up your own time to make our dreams come true. You gave you gave you gave and were so strong for so long, and you never got a thank you. You stood on the sidelines and in the shadows so that the sun could shine on us.

Thank you for your love and for being the greatest mom I could have asked for, and the exact mom I always needed.

I love you bestie,happy birthday.