by guest blogger, Deanna Cogdon Miller My daughter came home from primary with her Thanksgiving artwork on Friday and as I pulled the pieces out of her backpack, one paper in particular caught my eye. It was a turkey made out of a leaf and written across the page were the words, “merci maman”. After commenting on how beautiful the picture was, I asked her what she was thanking me for. She replied that it was for loving her so much. I’ve often thought about what I hope my kids will say when they’re older and talking to their friends about our relationship. My dream would be for them to say that they’ve always known how loved they were (so her words meant more to me than she’ll ever know).  As I stood there smiling at her picture and thinking about how our relationship is going to grow and change over the years, I couldn’t help but think about my relationship with my own mom and how loved I’ve always known I was. My mom continues to be a huge influence in my life and I think one of the things that I appreciate the most is that she always has my back. Even though I’m in my late thirties, a wife and a mother myself, she continues to take care of ME. She continues to worry about ME. She is so in tune with me that she somehow knows the exact time to swoop in and lend a helping hand. This past week was a perfect example. Our eight month old has not been a great sleeper and now that he’s taking solid foods well, we decided it was time to sleep train him. Unfortunately my husband had to be out of town on business so in walks mom (voluntarily) with her overnight bag in hand and a big smile on her face. She’s all business – ready to go in and rub my son’s back every time he wakes up throughout the night so that I can stay away and not remind him that he wants to eat. The kicker is that my mom still works – she has a very demanding full time job and here she is, staying up for two nights in a row helping to sleep train my baby. And as much as she says that she believes it’s time for him to sleep through the night or that he’s ready for it, I know she’s really there because she knows how exhausted I am and she’s worried about me. I hope more than anything that as my kids grow up, they feel my love radiating from me like I feel my mom’s radiating from her. I hope they know that they can come to me for anything like I know I can go to my mom for anything. I hope they know that wherever they are and whatever time it is, I will always be happy to hear their voice just like my mom is whenever I call her. I hope we will spend our lives talking, laughing, crying, working through tough times as a team and hugging – just like mom and I continue to do to this day. So this Thanksgiving, as I count all of the incredible blessings that surround me, I want to give a special shout out to my mom. Merci maman - for loving me so much.  Deanna lives in Dartmouth with her husband and three children. When she's not reading stories, dancing to ABBA or burping a baby, she works in communications for Bell Aliant. ...