Thankful

I think that I have started this post several times. I haven't finished it for a number of reasons, the biggest being that it always came out angry and offensive, and that seems a little too incongruous, given the title, even for me.
My very best friend in this entire world is gay. She is married to a wonderful woman, and they are very happy and very in love, and very perfect together. She is smart and funny and caring and loving and thoughtful. Her wife is all of those things too. I love them both and can't imagine my life without them.
My best friend's mother is a spiteful and hurtful woman who uses religion and the bible as a weapon bent not on love and peace, but hate and destruction. She seems to think that it is her mission in life to beat those with different opinions and interpretations of HER religion into submission, and if that doesn't work, then she'll use whatever ammunition she has to inflict the maximum amount of damage.
My problem with her way of thinking is this. It seems that she has forgotten that first and foremost, God made her a mother. It isn't a task that he calls or allows every woman to. But it is one that carries with it tremendous responsibility and one that takes precedence over all others. I believe that while he expects us to do good things, and take on the true evils of the world, he expects us first to take care of the jobs he has given us via our own flesh and blood.
Personally, I when I look at Maddy and Abbey, I can't think of anything that would make me want to hurt them. Hurt them. Make them feel that I don't love them. Shut them out of my life completely. They are my daughters, and I love them. I love them so much that I can't explain it to myself or them. I work every day to make sure they know and will never question my devotion to them. They are now and will always be my daughters.
Isabelle. My daughter who shares my heart with her sisters. I cannot hold her or touch her. I think of her every day. I dream of her at night. I miss her and would give anything to have her back. I didn't get to choose. She was taken out of my life, and nothing I have done or said has made any difference. She will never get to test me, tell me she hates me, go against my judgment and wishes. We'll never get to know what kind of woman she would have turned out to be. But she's out of my life.
What I want to, and have said to this woman, is that she ought to be damn thankful. She should kiss her children every day. She should be thankful that she was given 3 beautiful and perfectly healthy children. She should be thankful that despite her best attempts, they all love her and want her to be part of their life. She should be thankful that she is able to see them all and love them all and hug them all and touch them all. She is not. She takes that all for granted. While I have often thought, "I hate this woman." I don't. I feel sorry for her.
I am thankful that I have my daughters' love. I am thankful that I appreciate it. I am thankful that I am not blinded to the gifts that I have received.
Madeline Elaine, Abigail Kathleen, Isabelle Christine. Thank you.