I am a motherless daughter. I have been since I was 25 years old. I lost mom when she was far too young and I was venturing out in to the world and trying to make it on my own. We were getting to a point in our relationship where there was a genuine ease between us. Living under her roof was hard a lot of the time because she was easily stressed by my truculent teenage ways. It was when I moved away to college that our friendship blossomed. I no longer had to live by her strict rules and she could just enjoy my company rather than be the constantly worried parent. But I try not to feel sorry for myself. I'm incredibly grateful that I had 25 years to be her daughter. It could have been shorter. My mom was giddy about life. She giggled about silly things, blushed easily, peppered my sister and me with questions about how things were going with our friends, boyfriends, classes, sports, teenage angst stuff. There was never a doubt that she cared for us in the most profound way a parent can love a child. Our mom was proud of us and let us know that every single time we saw her or spoke on the phone. She would say she was in "awe" of what my sister and I were accomplishing. When we were feeling defeated by a break-up with a guy or troubles at work, we could always count on mom for that needed ego boost. So when I hear friends gripe about their own mothers, it seriously makes me cringe. If you're lucky enough to have a mom in your life, please tell her how blessed you feel. I wish I could.