Happy Mother's Day!

It has been 4 months exactly since I last saw my mom, but I did not realize that until I sat down to write this post. Has it been hard to live away from her? At times, yes. That probably sounds odd coming from an adult, but I think growing up and moving out is when we realize just how much we appreciate our moms. My mother and I have become really close in the last couple of years while my sister has often been away at school. We do so much together and sometimes I miss those little things like grocery shopping or watching our favourite shows. The older I got the more I was able to appreciate how well my parents raised me; I say this not out of pride for myself, but out of the humble realization that my parents shaped me into the woman that I am today. My mom and I have always been close, but becoming an adult has made us friends. You might think it odd that I would not have considered my mom a friend before, but I think a mother is something so much more special. Moms are the ones to whom we can tell anything, the ones who can always bring us comfort, the ones who will accept us for who we are, guide us in the right direction, and correct us when we're wrong. And once we become adults, if they have done their job right, we see just how much they truly cared for us and we respect them immensely. That's when they know that all of their hard work looking after us has paid off. And that's when the door to friendship opens up; once we become equals. If I am ever blessed with children of my own, I hope to be the kind of mother to them that my mom was to me.
So to all of those women out there who are raising children of your own, or someone else's; to those women whose children are now their closest friends' to all of those women who have lost their child in some way; to all of you I want to say "Happy Mother's Day! Thank you for all of the things you give up for your children."