Today is my perfect mom’s birthday. I think if you are lucky enough to have a great mom, you often blissfully think, “Ah, moms. Moms are the best.” I do this a lot because I have been so #blessed to have the best one out there: Celeste Myall.

I love my mom so much for so many things. So on her birthday, here are just a few:

• I love how she taught me to have compassion for literally everyone. From the person on the street corner to the sad stuffed animal at the Walgreens to the person who is annoying me, she taught me to show compassion. She’s better at it than me.
• I love how she taught me being sensitive is a strength. We may cry a lot and take things too seriously and get offended pretty easily, but with our sensitivity comes perception and kindness and an ability to understand people’s intentions and fears and so much more. Along the way of taking things personally, we know ourselves really well and we probably know you really well and we’re so much stronger for it.
• I love how beautiful she is. I mean, you’ve seen!
• I love how generous she is. She wanted this family ring for 40 years and when she finally got it, I began begging for it. A mere 3 months later, it was mine. She’d just rather I be happy.

I love how much she loves me. It’s actually a stupid crazy amount.

• I love how much she loves Ella. Because I love Ella so much (and because duh there is just so much to love about Ella), my mom treats her like her granddog and doesn’t even make fun of me when I choose hanging out with Ella over going out. She gets it.
• I love how much she loves Warren. Because he’s my person, she’s embraced him as one of hers.
• I love how much she loves my friends and what she does for my friends. I love that she used to drive us all to McDonald’s every Wednesday on the way to church and let us listen to awful music and make up code names for boys we’d forget in a few years. She’ll always expand our family for me.
• I love how much she hates everyone I hate. You don’t all get to be a part of this love.
• I love how beautifully she plays the violin. I can’t believe I have this insanely talented mom who exposed me to so much music and culture from the very beginning.

• I love how she still watches her “stories”, i.e. Soap Operas. Seriously, I’m not judging–I still watch Vanderpump Rules…
• I love how predictable I am to her, and she is to me. I love that I can know that she won’t like me taking an Amtrak a couple weeks after the crash and that she thinks I’ll get lost in Brooklyn again and won’t like it. I love that she knows what will upset me and inspire me and everything in between. Being known is what it’s all about.
• I love how much she loves to teach and how good of a teacher she is. Her violin students and orchestra students are so lucky to have her. She’s the best teacher and more importantly, she loves it and that makes all the difference.
• I love when she sends me little presents. My incredibly busy mom is always thinking about me.
• I love how much she loves the water. She’s always down for a boat ride or a lake adventure or being knocked down by the waves over and over.
• I love watching her host parties and knowing every single person and every thing they’re going through and genuinely caring enough to have a real conversation with them.

I love how she twirls her hair. All the time.

• I love that she kept her maiden name. She kept her maiden name IN THE 70s. She was a brave feminist then and is a brave feminist now and helped me learn how to be the best woman I can be.
• I love how well she cooks and all the meals that are so familiar. Strong ladies can do all things.
• I love how liberal she is and how she let me decide on my own what I believed, all the while showing me the compassion inherent in so many of her values.
• I love how she puts me and my sister first always. She’s crazy selfless; it’s actually really hard to describe just how much.
• I love how loyal she is. I aspire to be just as loyal (most days), and it’s my favorite thing about us.
• I love how much she read to me from day one and how she taught me to love reading. And to love TV. And how she gives everything I love a chance so she can talk to me about it.

• I love how smart she is and that she encouraged us to love learning enough to get there some day.
• I love how much she believes in me. Everyone should be lucky enough to have someone who thinks you can do whatever you want.
• I love how much she trusts me. If I say, “I can’t go back to college right now,” she trusts that I’m doing what’s best for me and that I’ll keep my promise to her eventually.
• I love how sassy she can be.
• I love how she taught me to have an open mind. Like when I thought evolution wasn’t real because of religion and she called our pastor to make him tell me that they could both be possible. She wasn’t going to stop my beliefs, but just make sure I was open to all of them. And thank god, because that would be embarrassing to not believe in evolution.
• I love how she supports me through everything.

I love you, mom.

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