My dear girls:

Thank you … for never coming home with green or purple hair, stretched earlobes, shaved heads or excessive piercings and tattoos. I would have loved you just the same, but still….

Thank you … for not bringing home too many stray cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters, pot-bellied pigs, parrots or fish. You know how hard it would have been for me to turn them away.

Thank you … for keeping me in the dark about things I did not want to know.

Thank you … for sharing with me all the things I did want to know.

Thank you … for not bringing home a baby before you were ready to raise it yourself. It would have been loved, of course, but life is easier this way.

Thank you … for making me laugh so often.

Thank you … for not making me cry too often.

Thank you …for showing interest in my passions. Thank you for sharing yours with me.

Thank you … for tolerating my short-comings. I know there are many.

Thank you …for keeping me abreast of what is fashionable and what is not. It may look like I don’t care, but I do.

Thank you … for your patience when I repeat myself. (I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.)

Thank you… for sharing so many delightful occasions with me. Thank you, too, for being with me through the tough ones.

Because of you … I have tried harder to be a better person, to model kindness, compassion and common sense.

Because of you… I’ve also tried harder to tread lightly on the planet, to keep it healthy so that your children and your children’s children can also enjoy the hummingbirds, orca whales, grizzly bears, bald eagles, gorillas and all its other magnificent creatures as much as I have.

Because of you… I have earned my grey hair and wrinkles, but I know that I have had it very easy, and for that I am blessed.

With never-ending love,
Mom