I love you, mom

Nothing says Happy Mother's Day like the elegance and fragrance embraced by the white rose. I picked up an arrangement this afternoon, trimmed the stems, and placed the bouquet in a shallow vase gardened with dimed kumquats.

On that note...

Dear mom,

I am twenty years old. I see more of you in my appearance and my step every day. I have told you I love you almost every night since I was 6. But when I was 6 I didn't really know what it meant to love someone, appreciate someone. I remember one year for mother's day I wrapped up anything I could find in our house. Pokemon cards, Jelly Beans, Beanie Babies, rocks, and gifts you gave me for Christmas. I gave you fourteen presents and I think a couple dollar bills, too. You smiled and said something along the lines of oh, how sweet. 
Unconditional love.
I still say I love you every night when I am home, every time you leave the house, and each time I hang up the phone. But now, I know what it means to really love someone because you show me love every single day. Unconditional love. Just know how much I love you and how much I appreciate you as my mother, a wife, and an individual.
I can only hope to be half the mother you have been for the past twenty, twenty four years to J.L. and me.
You are a woman of elegance and sincerity. A true character of generosity. The greatest compliment I could ever receive would be something like: you remind me of your mother. 
You're simply wonderful, mom. Happy Mother's Day!

I love you,
Arden

p.s. I hope you like the flowers on the kitchen counter.

Photographs by Arden Montgomery