missing my mom

I have always been really close with my mom. I think part of it is because I am the youngest of the family so when everyone else had left for college or missions, I was still there. For the year or two when it was just us we has a lot of fun together. On Friday nights we would both come home from our dates and sit on her bed and compare notes. We helped each other through heartbreak, bad dates, rough weeks and a million other things. We were more like friends than mother and daughter. Of course, I knew that I could go to her if I needed anything and she would swith into mom mode or counselor mode depending on the issue.
I am so grateful for this time we got to spend together. I had the opportunity to watch my mom meet Dwane and fall in love. I saw the transformation in her from stoic anchor to giddy schoolgirl to purely happy. Not many children get the opportunity to see that.
However, even after all of that, I don't think I truly appreciated my mom until I got married and had kids of my own. She has always been there supportive and loving but it has risen to a whole new level these last seven years. I am a mother myself now but I do not feel like I possess anything close to the wealth of knowledge and patience that my mother has always exuded. I am so grateful she is just a phone call away. Man, I wish she were just a 5 minute drive away! In my 28 years of life I have learned one of life's most crucial lessons: WE NEVER, EVER OUTGROW THE NEED FOR OUR MOTHER.