According to National Today, today is National Celebration of Life Day. That’s a good time to remember how lucky we are to be here—how fortunate, even on the hardest days, we are to see the sky, the stars, the ocean, and feel the touch or hear the voice of our loved ones.

I can’t help thinking of my mother, gone nine years now, on a day like today. As I sit here by the fire and the dog, I remember all the lessons and wisdom she shared with me both just by the way she lived and the ones she explicitly said:

1. Never pass by a lemonade stand. She loved little kids, and whatever cause they were behind that day, she’d be right there with them. We screeched to a halt and pulled over many times over the years to slurp some diluted Crystal Light concoctions.

2. Give a damn. She remembered all the birthdays of those around her, she called to check on people who were struggling, she was friends with all creatures and humans great and small. There was no amount of care that was too time intensive for her—displaying her care for others was a way of life.

3. Rise early, win at life. For decades, she woke up at 5am, reading the paper with her coffee quietly in the kitchen.

4. Proclaim you’re gluten free, eat Nutter Butters hiding in the closet and don’t give a what when people call out your discrepancies. In other words, embrace your imperfections and paradoxes and live out loud.

5. Love. Although she often held grudges for years (re #4: paradoxes), this one was what I felt the deepest in my life.

I recently listened to Tim Ferriss’s podcast episode where he interviewed child educator and author Jessica Lahey. In it, Lahey discussed her commitment to living by Albert Schweitzer’s quote: “I decided to make my life my argument.”

Mum argued that there was always enough time to show love and care. Her other argument was to be true to yourself, always: She was stubborn, and insisted on living life on her terms.

As I prepare to become a mother myself, and as I prepare to finally publish my long form tribute to to her, I thank her every day for what she taught me about loving deeply, and I thank her for that deep deep love she gave to me.