"mamaaa, you know i love yooouuu" -BoysIIMen

i remember "back in the day" when my sister and i had the "Soul Food" movie soundtrack on cassette (yes, i'm old enough to remember cassette tapes!); this is the only song i ever listened to. i would hit the rewind button over and over again until i fell asleep, committing this song to my memory and my heart. i don't know that i really *felt* the lyrics back then. as a matter of fact, i know i didn't. but as i approach my first mother's day, i totally get it.

you taught me everything, and everything you've given me, i'll always keep it inside; you are the driving force in my life, oh yeah...


i was going to break down how i can relate to every single lyric of this song, but i can't, because i'd be writing until Mother's Day 2012. just click on the words above to read all of the lyrics; they'll tell you how i feel. without my mama, there's no way i'd be able to be such a [hopefully] great mommy to my G*Baby. i remember making that phone call to her, all the potential scenarios running through my head: she'll disown me, she'll scream at me, she'll curse me out [even though she doesn't curse], she won't say anything, i'll never be able to come home again, i'll have to figure out this motherhood thing all by myself... but what did my mother do? pray and take action. that's probably one of the most important lessons i've learned from her: when facing a tough problem, pray first, then take action steps to solve it. crazy that it takes moving back home AFTER college to learn the most important life lesson of all...

although i'm more than ready to move OUT of her house [more on that later...lol], i'll be forever grateful that she let me back in while i adjusted to motherhood and sorted myself out this past year. of course, everyone with a great mom thinks their mom is the best, which is true for them. what's true for me is that my mother, S.J.W., is THE best mother in the ENTIRE history of mothers, hands down bar none, and i love Love LOVE her. love her. and in case you didn't get it the first three times, I LOVE MY MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! happy mother's day, madre. :)

[Mother's Day, Pt. 2 tomorrow: my thoughts on my 1st mother's day as a MOTHER! woot woot!]

-love always, a very loving elle- :)