I am a daughter, a wife, a mother and a friend. As for being a daughter, I wasn’t a very good daughter for a number of years, but lately I feel like my relationship with my father is better then it has been as long as I can remember. And, I am a wife, I love my husband beyond measure, and I count our relationship as one of the best in my life. It’s not always perfect and it takes some work, but I wouldn’t trade him for anything. Some people would say I am an adoptive mom, not just a mom, to them, I say screw off, because this fact neither praise worthy or a negative in my eyes. I am simply someone who fought hard to be a mom loosing way too many babies in the process. But here I am, thankful every single day that I count mom as one of my descriptors – I wear this label with pride. And, as for being a friend, I’m not the greatest at that these days, and I see it as one of my greatest failings right now.

I am also caring, although I’m not sure that’s something you can ever be too much of. I do love dogs, and working on loving Doodle MPB crazy as much as she clearly loves me. I can be emotional, although I rarely am and I am almost never emotional outside the comfort of my home. And yes, I am straightforward, and I am impatient, and I probably swear too much too. I am a little bit arrogant at times particularly about my work and it’s one of my least favorite personality traits so I work hard to keep it in check. And yet, at the exact same time, I also doubt myself constantly and worry obsessively over small mistakes. I acknowledge at times I am not always a perfect saint, and while I would never intentionally upset someone, I know I have from time to time and I know I have people in this world who do not like me for a number of reasons, but such is life. And yes, I am a bit of survivor, but I do not wear that badge with pride, I wear it only because I have no choice in the matter.

But when I think about who I am, I am also someone who is dedicated to anything I put my mind to, except maybe exercising as much as I wish I had time for. I am dedicated to my career and professional development. I take commitments seriously and I don’t make promises unless I know I can keep them. I take things personally. I stress over the small stuff, more then I probably should. And, I despise being late.

And those who know all of these things about me and embrace all of my labels, to quote CandidKay, they are my Keepers. I don’t have many of them, but they are the ones who love me not in spite of all my labels, but because of them.

I’m rather confident when I say, Keepers are some of the best people in the world. I’ll continue to cherish mine, and hopefully you do to.