By Hannah Dearth 
As a parent with children of my own, my mom will often apologize about my childhood when my siblings and I reminisce with her. My mom was a single parent for nearly half of my childhood. What she sees as areas she fell short, I look at with awe.
My mom loved us with everything she had and still does that and more as a grandparent and parent to me as an adult.
She gave more than I could imagine. She was always patient. She went back to school. She always was proud of us and encouraging.
Parts of my childhood were not storybook-worthy, but I made it through the hard things because I had her. I truly hope to even be half the mom she was and is.
So, how could she feel this way? As a parent now, I see it. The mom guilt and comparison are so real, but moms of both young children and adult children alike . . . the sum of your consistent love is what remains. Maybe there are parts of it you look at and wish you could change, but they look at you and see the best part of it all.
by Sarah Moore 
by Susan Connelly 
by Libby Pearson 
