Dear Mom,
Thank you for teaching me how to have an open mind and heart; thank you for opening the door and accepting missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints into our home and raising us with the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for being enough of a mother that I didn't even care that we lacked a father in our home. Thank you for instilling in me a love of reading and good literature. Thank you for setting a good example by attending college even though it was difficult to be a single mother without a car and other luxuries. Thank you for teaching me the importance of family. I am grateful to have grown up with a grandmother and great-grandmother so intimately part of our lives. I don't know of any other teen that had to share a bedroom with a great-grandparent. I miss those days. There were days I had, at first, resented moving but now appreciate and am grateful you moved us away from Los Angeles to a lush land and slower paced small town of Arcata. Although we couldn't afford to travel, thank you for taking us around the world through our little kitchen by, in your words, 'educating our palettes.'
You may not have been a perfect mother and made many mistakes, but you were a good mother and I will always love you.
Much love, Amanda
