Celebrating a martriarch

She was the first person I ever saw as I opened my second-old eyes.

Even though I can't remember the occasion, I'm sure she still looks at me the same way she did back then.

With love, with pride. I was her baby daughter.

I'm sure I looked at her as the most important person on earth.

She is still the most important person in my life.

She guided me with soft hands, that, as the years passed by, started to carry the wrinkles and scars of caring.

The soul that sprouted me.

The mother that made me the person I am today.

She taught me to question life,

to think with an open mind and make my own discoveries.

She never tried to inhibit my personality,

never tried to calm down the crazy bundle of child I had been.

She let me live the way I wanted to live,

but still pointed out the wrong from the right,

the good from the bad.

She let me learn through experience.

I am thankful for that.

She was a beacon of safety,

my sanctuary,

my refuge.

When life was tough, and I didn't understand it,

my mom would take me in her arms and hold me tight.

She often worded her dolefulness at the process of life,

causing me to grow up and no longer fit on her lap in a cradle position.

She wanted me to stay her baby child.

But if I didn't grow up, I would not be able to appreciate the mother she had been,

the mother she still is.

I am thankful for every drop of coffee she has made every morning,

as she woke me up to get ready for school.

I am thankful for every morsel of food she has cooked so lovingly for her little family of four.

I am thankful for every note of lullaby she sang to me as a little one.

I am thankful for every scrape she fixed with a kiss and a scold.

I am thankful for her eccentric ways to get over a broken heart.

I am thankful for her teaching me to be nonconformist.

I am thankful that she is my mother!

And I am thankful that my family is able to celebrate another year of our mother's love today.

Happy birthday Mamma!

May our family be blessed with many more years of your presence

and may each year of ripening be the best year of your life.

I love you with all my heart.

Ps, I'm glad you enjoy your birthday present so much already!

(We got her a coffee machine. My family is addicted to coffee and drinks an average of 9 cups a day, per person.)