By Makayla Harvey 
God knew what he was doing when he gave me you . . . when he gave our family you.
You always say your children are your greatest blessing, and you are the one both of your kids run to, and now I watch as my babies do the same.
The most beautiful, kind, loving soul of a mother a child could ever ask for transformed into the most genuine best friend I have ever known, and you’ve been my role model for more than 30 years. God knew where you were needed as a mother, wife, best friend, you name it, but His plans for you meant your role was something even far more significant.
God had something bigger planned for you.
He needed someone to teach her children the meaning of unconditional love so they could spread it to their babies and the world. He needed someone to be there for her baby the day her baby had babies. He needed someone to hold her baby while that baby held her baby. He needed someone to fold the laundry and do the dishes while watching her baby soak in fresh newborn snuggles, all while anxiously waiting to steal those snuggles for herself when that new mother was ready to shower for the first time in three days.
He needed someone to wipe her grown-up baby’s tears as she wiped her newborn baby’s tears. Someone to love her baby’s babies and care for them as if they were hers. Someone who could softly unravel the true meaning of motherhood and not sugarcoat a drop. Someone who would never ask if the baby needed a diaper, but notice and change it herself. Someone to say it’s okay to switch to formula when the baby didn’t gain weight because the milk supply wasn’t enough after a breast lump was removed.
He needed someone to say it was okay to ask for a break while taking on all the incredible yet overwhelming roles as a mama. Someone who would help lighten the load when the world felt heavy and cry with her daughter when things weren’t always what she pictured them being. Someone who would validate every feeling and emotion in the postpartum trenches without judgment. Someone who would show up every day at 7 a.m. when the new mother went back so she’d know her baby was in the best hands possible.
He needed someone willing to put her life on hold without being asked when the next pregnancy came with complications. Someone who arranged for her grandson to stay with her and Pappy when that second baby arrived, even though she desperately wanted to be in the delivery room as she was before. Someone who knew how hard an emergency C-section was from her own traumatic experience, but was ready to offer strength, guidance, and support. Someone who would schedule sleepovers with her grandchild because she knew her son-in-law would have a late night and that her daughter needed bonding time with her newborn.
He needed someone to support her grown-up daughter’s decision to be a stay-at-home mama because she did the same. Someone who never made her feel she was wasting her college degree because she couldn’t stand missing a moment with her babies. Someone who would take a toddler to Dunkin’ Donuts to get a chocolate sprinkle donut, even though he didn’t eat breakfast. Someone who would show up with a Happy Meal after that same toddler threw his lunch on the floor.
He needed someone who wouldn’t take away from any milestone but wanted to be there for all the firsts. Someone who would share the darkest truths about motherhood, but would create magic and paint beauty too. Someone who wouldn’t shelter grandchildren but would make them see all the beauty the world has to offer. Someone to put Paw Patrol stickers on windows, pick four-leaf clovers, ride the John Deere, visit a dinosaur exhibit, and take them to the beach for the first time. Someone who would teach speech with flashcards and pictures instead of just expressing concern about late-talkers.
He needed someone to show genuine equal love to both of her grandchildren. Someone who wouldn’t play favorites because favoritism was not in her vocabulary. Someone who would let her baby know that even though she was a mama now, it was okay to need her own. Someone who would always answer the phone, even in the middle of a sleepless night. Someone who would forever be a saving grace and a safe place for both her grown-up baby and her babies. Someone her grandchildren ask for multiple times a day because she also feels like home.
He needed someone selfless with the purest form of love. Someone who would leave her golden touch on this world and occupy shoes that could never be filled the same way. He needed a beautiful mother, a wonderful wife, and the most selfless best friend, so God made you a Mimi.
by Sandy Brannan 
by Her View From Home 
by Britt LeBoeuf 
