Mom

Braeden Petruk has added a photo to the pool:

This is my mom. She's 40 years old (revealing this equates to certain death, doesn't it? :P) and I can guarantee she is one of the most amazing women to have ever set foot on Earth. Her open-mindedness allows her to enjoy just about anything; she'll relax on the beach, watch a mushy chick flick, shop for clothing, play a game of football, indulge in deep conversation, or even hike over mountain ranges!

She has devoted almost 10,000,000 minutes of her life toward raising and supporting me, and for almost the same period of time, she has been raising hundreds of other children through her career in childhood development. I owe every single experience and accomplishment to her unconditional love and support.

She's an artist in every sense of the word -- she can do math with art materials: (charcoal, pencil, or paint) + paper = unfathomably gorgeous art (you should see what she can do in Draw Something!). Every two days, I come home from school or work to a completely re-arranged living room; it's never good enough! She is constantly forming the world around her into the Utopian view, both literally and metaphorically, that encapsulates her existence. Her Utopia is a place that fosters growth, kindness, and the utmost potential.

My mom dreams big; she is convinced (and I believe her) that she can accomplish anything in four years. It's a running joke in our household. She'll say something along the lines of "I could learn to do what those figure skaters are doing," and within seconds be greeted with a unanimous, "in four years, right?" But I truly believe it. This woman invests her entire being into any and every single endeavour. Four years is plenty!

Perhaps this tribute is a little late for Mother's day, but in all honesty, I'm glad I didn't capture this on Mother's day. We don't need a single day to pay tribute to our parents. They deserve much, much more than that. Without my mom, I literally wouldn't be here right now, and without the unconditional and seemingly infinite flow of love, support, and knowledge that she sends my way, I most certainly wouldn't be where I am today.

Words can't express how thankful I am, or how indebted I am to her. Thankfully, she already knows; this is just a meagre expression as some sort of icing on the cake. Thanks, mom :)

(p.s. You're actually incredibly privileged to be seeing this; she hates being photographed. I captured her in a wonderful candid twist as we were walking Banjo, so hopefully this is good enough for her... If I never return to the world of Flickr, you know what happened to me :P)