Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day!  
I wish we were together today.   I hope Dad is pampering you.  I'm thinking you're going to have a day at the lake and have fun food.  That's one of the many qualities you've passed on to me- fun food = fun times.  Remember all the fun treats we would bring to the beach?  I can't eat a Pringle or a red vine without thinking of those sweet days.
On this special day, I wanted to say thank you.  Thank you for raising me to be the goofy gal I am today.  
And I wanted to tell you that I get it now.

Pregnant with Kaitlyn '03

I understand things a little clearer now, things that I just didn't get before having my own babies.

Sweet baby Kait '03

After having Kait, I understood the fierce crazy love you have for me.  I remember the first time I realized that it wasn't all about me any more.  I realized that everything I did and didn't do was for the love of my child.

 Remember I didn't have a baby tub so we washed Kait in a Tupperware bin?

Eight and a half years ago I started on this motherhood journey.   

 Sweet baby Clara '05

 Now that I have four precious girls of my own,

I am so thankful for your wisdom that I didn't understand as a kid.

 Sweet baby Addyson '07

I now understand why you didn't like my mile-high bangs in the 80's.

But I appreciate that as hideous as I now know they were, you allowed me to continue to rat to my hearts content and coat with Aqua Net.

 Sweet Baby Maggie '09

I now understand why I wasn't allowed to listen to Madonna after I came home from school singing 'Like A Virgin.'

I understand why I had a 10 o'clock curfew when my brothers didn't have one.

I understand why you wouldn't let me have a phone in my room. 

I understand why you wouldn't let me go to Mexico with all of my friends after graduation.

I understand why you threatened to make me stay home from college when I was making poor choices.

So I want to say thank you.  Thank you for protecting me.

Thank you for all the dance lessons.  Thank you for teaching me to always turn the music up loud. Thank you for all the hours of dancing goofy in the kitchen.

Thank you for teaching me to create special moments with my girls.  I learned from the best!

Thank you letting me learn from a few mistakes.

Thank you for accepting me for me.

Thank you for being a wonderful mom and the BEST Nana.

And even though I always say I love you more.

I get it.

You WILL always love me more, because I understand now.

That as much as I love you, a mother's love is always MORE.

But still . . . I love you . . . . MORE!

Happy Mother's Day!