My Daughter, My Friend - in honor of Lauren's 25th birthday

“I’m not your friend, I’m your mother”. “It’s not my job to be your friend”. I can’t say how many times I said those words to you, but I know it was a lot. But I always followed them with “We can be friends when you’re older”.

Well, you’re “older” now and I’m so happy that we are friends. I love spending time with you in a “grown up” way.

“Cheers”!

I love our Target and Michaels shopping adventures (can you say wine samples?). I love how we can be goofy together. I love our Disney days.

I love our daily phone conversations on my drive home from work. I love our email chats while I’m at work! I’m so glad that you think of me as one of your best friends. You are definitely one of mine.

But more importantly, I love being your mom. I love that you still need me for advice, encouragement and the occasional, “kiss it and make it better”. I love seeing the beautiful young woman I have always dreamed you’d become. You amaze me on a daily basis. I see your craft work, your paintings and I am in awe of how talented you are. I watch you step out of your comfort zone and have experiences that I never would have dreamed to have when I was your age. You’ve traveled around the country; around the world! You’ve found your passion in helping others in their most desperate time of need. You are planning a career that will take you on even more adventures as you aid those recovering from disasters. You are strong, intelligent, resourceful. You are my beautiful daughter.

I can’t believe that you are 25 years old! We have had 25 wonderful years together. Okay, maybe some of them weren’t all that wonderful. But, you know as much as I do that the tough times are necessary. The tough times make us stronger. The tough times bring us closer.

Happy 25^th birthday Lauren! You make me smile, you make me happy, you make me mad sometimes, but you always make me proud! I love you more that I can say, more than you will ever know. Thank you for letting me become your friend, but know that I will always be your “mommy”.