Eva LaBeau

My beautiful parents have never failed to make me–and nearly everybody who knows them–jealous.

“If we do nothing else with this life we are given, we live with certain purpose if we love others and allow others’ love a place in us…”

Dad, you wrote this on a piece of paper when I was young. None of us remember it, but apparently, I was sick, because the flip side of the page reads, “Eva Diva, shake ‘dat feva’!”

I love the dynamic our family has.

I look at that paper every morning and every night. It’s hung up right next to my bed, and it has been for as long as I can remember. You have always been my biggest supporter in everything I’ve done. 

In every stage of my life, you have reminded me to keep a soft heart, but not one so soft that it gets crushed. Even when I’m not the best at the “not so soft…” part, I have never woken up and not imbued your words into my mind. 

All I want in life is to make you both as proud of me as possible, and I know that you will support me through that entire journey. 

You have set my expectations for love in every single way, and, let me tell you, they’re very high expectations. 

The love that you two share for each other is something unlike any love story I’ve read or even imagined. I will always hope for a life in which I can be so insanely in love with my person but also have the most incredible family dynamic and humor that I have with you guys. 

Dad, I will always be envious of the way that you have such a cohesive mind while simultaneously being the most cluttered person I know. I love hearing you talk about how in love you are with Mom, and I love our deep talks about life to death and everything in between. I have had the most enlightening conversations with you, and I genuinely tear up at the idea of you not knowing how loved you are. 

Mom, you have been through more than anybody I know, and you’ve done it so graciously. I will never understand how you have shined through all of the hurt and turmoil you’ve experienced, and I hope you never forget how beautiful you are inside and out. I have gotten so much from you over the years, and I will never stop being beyond grateful for you and what you’ve done for me. 

Even with your flaws, you are perfect to me. Mom, I know you can’t say “Dermot Mulroney,” “restless leg syndrome,” or “Sherwin Williams,” and I love you for it. Dad, I know you’re a bit geeky and you rewatch the same shows over and over, but I do too, and I love you for it. 

You both came from such beautiful people before you, and you have both taken every bit of pain and turned it into success.

You are the two most important people in my life, and you both deserve the entire world. You are the purest, most understanding, most wholesome humans on this planet, and every bit of love in this universe is meant for you.

I am so incredibly proud to be your daughter. 

Your youngest daughter,

Eva Joy