For My Very Best Friend

Dear Mom,

Of all the words in the whole world, every word I've ever known or spoken or written, there is only one that can fully describe and embody everything about you.  Love.

All my life you and Dad have raised me in the shelter of your love and of Christ's love.  I say shelter not in the sense that you've tried to keep me away from the world or protect me from it, but in the sense that when I was vulnerable to the world, when its limbs reached out to hurt me, or to tempt me, or even to break me, I knew I was secure in the shelter of love I had with you.  I knew whatever happened, whatever I learned, whatever I did, whatever I went through, I was welcome back into the shelter of love where I knew I was always safe and always wanted.

One of the greatest things in the whole world are hugs from you.  Everything I am and am trying to be just melts into everything you are.  The love that envelopes me has no need for words.  I love to just let it sit there, let it exist, let it be known without a sound.  Nothing has ever made me feel more complete or more loved than being in your arms and staying there for as long as I need.

My favorite thing about you is that you are the perfect mix of friend and mother.  You are my best friend - always have been and always will be.  You've watched friends come and go, and you've remained faithful and constant. I love that I can tell you anything and it won't make you love me any more or any less.  I love that we can laugh together, cry together, and be our weird and wacky selves together.  I love that we don't share the same style but you let me be my own individual and are never trying to make me into someone or something I'm not.  I love that you forgive quickly and easily and that you put up with my sass, my bad moods, and my ever-changing emotions.  I love that you support me in everything I do, and not just out of obligation, but with your whole heart.

Just a little while ago a friend of mine asked me if I talked to my Mom.  I said, "Yes, I tell her everything."  And it made me so sad to think that not every girl gets to have the friendship we have.

I want you to know that though I am not a perfect daughter, I try to be the best one I can be.  And I want you to know that I strive to be everything you are as a mother, a friend, a wife, and a believer.

The next three years are bound to be full of hardships and laughter and grief and joy and lots of change.  But I know that you've been here since day one - literally - and not one day, not one hour, not one moment will pass when you won't be here.  And I am so excited and so thankful for all of the years we've had and all of the years to come.

Thank you, Mom.

Thank you for understanding me more than any other human being on this planet.
Thank you for everything you've taught me and for everything you are.
Thank you for loving me completely when it's hardest to love me, because that is when I need it most.
Thank you for being my best friend.
Thank you for you.

Love,
Anna

Badlands, South Dakota