For Mom

Words cannot describe, and I wish my actions could show you, just how deeply I love and adore you, Mom. Because of your sacrifices, the quiet ones no one ever saw and the bigger ones you carried without complaint, I have been given a life shaped by your strength. Because of your love, steady, patient, and unwavering through every season, I have always known what it means to be truly cared for. Because of the knowledge you passed down, I see the world more clearly, and because of the lessons you taught, both spoken and lived, I have a foundation that continues to guide me. You gave without keeping score. You believed in me when I struggled to believe in myself. You corrected me when I needed it, comforted me when I was hurting, and celebrated me when others did not. The wisdom you shared, the values you instilled, and the example you set have shaped the person I am today and the person I am still becoming. For all of this, and for so many more reasons than I could ever put into words, the love we have for you is overflowing. It cannot be measured, repaid, or diminished by time or distance. You are treasured, you are honored, and you are deeply, deeply loved. Thank you, Mom, for everything you are and for everything you have given.

Sometimes I wish you could hear the way people talk about you in rooms you are not in. Everyone I know who has had the pleasure of meeting you has always seen you in such a wonderful light. From being known as "Michele's son" in church growing up, to hearing people I barely know come up to me now and tell me how cool my mother is, I have always been surrounded by the admiration people carry for you.

But all of it pales in comparison to the way I speak about you. People who have never even met you can confidently say that you are the hardest working, most loving, and most sacrificial person to walk this earth, simply because of the stories I tell. Your name carries weight wherever I go, not because I try to make it so, but because the truth of who you are is impossible to hide.

I am truly so proud of you, Mom. Proud to be your son, and proud to be living proof of the love and effort you have poured out your entire life.

A Legacy of Love

"You did not just raise five children, Mom. You raised a legacy of love that continues to spread through every life you have touched, including mine."

You may have five wonderful children, but you have been a mother to far more people than that. You have sacrificed your home, your time, your money, and your very life for anyone who crosses your path. You have become someone people lean on when they have nowhere else to turn, and you have become adored by so many who were searching for love and found it nowhere else but in you. You open your door without hesitation, you give without expecting anything in return, and you make people feel seen in a world that so often overlooks them. I know you are the reason I have such a love for the world and such a bleeding heart, and I am so grateful to have inherited this magnificent trait that fits you so beautifully. If I can love even a fraction of the way you do, I will have lived a life worth living. You did not just raise five children, Mom. You raised a legacy of love that continues to spread through every life you have touched, including mine.