i love my mother.

my mother, who uses the graphic smiley faces that gmail offers rather than merely typing in ":)"

my mother, who sighs to convey that nothing has changed.

my mother, who got bad grades in college, except in dance and some literature classes.

my mother, who doesn't do something if she doesn't want to do it.

my mother, who sends me supplements in the mail to take because she thinks they will make me stop being sad.

my mother, who hates to watch sad movies and is continually disappointed in Hollywood because every portrayal of a Christian character, to her, is negative-- even if in the context of the film religion isn't even slightly relevant.

my mother, who used to tell me the plots of musicals and old movies i hadn't seen yet and passed them off as stories she had just come up with on the long walks from our house to the store or the houses she used to clean.

my mother, who bought me a star wars toothbrush just for fun when i was far too old for it.

my mother, who still thinks i should marry one if not all of the guy friends i have. she supports polygamy, apparently, and just because she loves them all so much for loving me, she is willing to overlook their mismatching religions.

my mom, who always did the voices just right when we read Mary Poppins or Chronicles of Narnia.

i want to make sure you're okay. i hope i can do that, and that you don't get old too quickly.