A Pledge to My Momma.

Dedicated to my mom, Marilyn, a.k.a. Mrs. Marilyn, Marmoo, H.H.B.L. (One of Dad's many abbreviations), Nana, and most importantly, Mom.  Here is my list of things I will always try my hardest to do in honor of you, as your daughter, and from one mom to another.

This is not me with 80's hair and Adia.  This is my mom with 80's hair holding me when I was about 2 or so in the 80's.

1.  I will always remember the times you held me when I was sick and always acknowledge you as my first nurse.
2. I will still find comfort in you when I am sad, lonely, and when I feel like giving up.
3. I will always see God in you. I know you have and would still sacrifice anything because you love me. It doesn't matter if I went through a Mother Theresa stage or a Snookie stage. You love me even though I know that I have not always earned the "Proud parent of a blah blah blah child" bumper sticker on the back of your car. You continue to love me and take me back as your own, even when I mess things up. What a better display of God's love for his children?
4. I will have grace for you. You are not perfect,(though you are always right) and neither am I (but I'm always right too.) I will not resent you, I will not neglect you, and I will always have grace for you.
5. You are always going to be a beauty queen in my eyes. I wore my 80's velour sweatsuit, let you curl my bangs and tease them to an ungodly height, just because I wanted to look like you. I felt my head droop down every time someone told me that I looked like Dad instead of you (sorry, Dad.) I'm almost 30 now, and I still want to be you when I grow up.
6. I will always know that home is wherever you are. (And wherever your deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, and potato casserole are.)
7. I will always consider you to be my first teacher. I hated math as a kid. One of my 2nd grade teachers called you and told you that I had no hope in math. If it weren't for you taking your time after working all day to teach me my math, I would've never been passionate again about learning. As a teacher now, math is my favorite. I owe you for that, and so do all the kids I teach who beg me to do "just one more really challenging one, Mrs. Wilcox!"
8. I will always thank you for not always saving me. When I had problems with friends, or problems at school, unless an issue was way over my head (which very very very rarely if ever happened), you believed that I would benefit more from solving my own problems. This taught me how to become an adult. This helped me grow. This is the reason why I learned how to keep friends and how to be a friend. This is a big contributor in how I learned how to accept failure and how to learn from my mistakes. This helped me to grow spiritually. This helped me learn how to get better. This helped me to have a growth mindset rather than a fixed, "If I mess up then I give up" mindset or "If I mess up, someone else will fix it for me" attitude.
9. I will thank you for always loving my dad and for never arguing with him in front of me. You modeled how to be a team, how to love each other, and how to have a successful marriage for me throughout my whole life. I knew you got on each other's nerves at times and I knew my future husband and I would do the same, but I also knew that you had grace and forgiveness for each other. I saw that Dad still rubbed your feet after a long day. I saw that even when you ran over Dad's foot with the car, you all were able to have a sense of humor about it.  In a weird way, it was moments like those that made me anxious to meet someone who would have that kind of love and fun with me.
10. I will always be thankful for your hard work and determination.
11. I will always be thankful that you didn't say negative things about family who I love in front of me - even if they didn't always make good choices.

I could add more to the list, but that's a whole heck of a lot for this busy woman to keep up with and being the awesome mom that you are, I know you understand.  As Adia and Isla's little book, "I Love You Through and Through" says, "I love you through and through.  Yesterday, today, and tomorrow too."