#InstaEssays

Happy Birthday to my beautiful and forgiving mother. I'm sorry for when I was a teenager and mean to you. I could be a real brat. And I'm sorry for occasionally moving across the world, because I know how hard that is for you. I'm sorry for always changing the hair color you gave me, and never combing it, for literally never making my bed and for that one time I got a tattoo. That was a very uncool daughter-move. I'm especially sorry for unfailingly forgetting to text you when I arrive at a destination. Thank you for letting me be me. Here's to hoping I eventually end up more like you.

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Jan 9, 2017 at 5:33pm PST

Happy Fathers Day to The Man. Thank you for bequeathing to me your peaceful disposition and your wild side. And for forgiving me when one at times consumes the other. For teaching me what matters, and what really does not. You matter a lot to me. I love you.

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Jun 21, 2015 at 10:50am PDT

"What's your favorite short story?" She furrowed an amused brow at the strange question and hoped she'd heard it correctly over the clashing club music. And that was the beginning of her favorite love story. ❤️ #mydenimvalentine #hereyougohallmark #picsofbaeinbookstores

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Feb 14, 2017 at 2:39pm PST

Some people were meant to illuminate. This girl who I so proudly claim as my baby sister is the kind of star you may only catch once or twice in a lifetime. Emitting a radiance you don't often find in a young woman, facing a world that too often belittles and breaks young women. Maggs - I love you, you are truly awesome and I cannot wait to get you legally drunk. HAPPY 21ST!

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Mar 10, 2016 at 10:06pm PST

Brb going to rule the jungle. With every piece of my sunlit soul I celebrate #NPS today. Thank you for protecting Mother Earth and allowing her children to love her for who she is. Happy 100th Birthday. May you live to be forever. #nps100 #FindYourPark #leolioness

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Aug 25, 2016 at 9:28am PDT

Not many of us have had years like my little sister's passed few. We've likely had many much easier than hers, yet have smiled less. Laughed less. Loved less than she has. Like this if Colleen's snapchat has ever made you embarrassingly laugh out loud. Like this if her head-bob-and-finger-point dance moves have ever made you join in. If her quiet singing voice has ever made your heart melt, or if her Instagram captions have made your eyes water. Happy Birthday Colleen, I hope you know the world loves you back. 💕🎂👸🏼 @collgough

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Nov 29, 2016 at 7:10pm PST

Happy 2-5 to @kellywiard. My best friend even through those weird years of petty youth when I found myself with very few. Because you didn't give a f&ck about what other people think and you still don't. I am forever grateful for this and you and the walkable distance from my childhood window to yours. My true partner in being out of the loop, a little odd and unapologetically ourselves. Love you Red, can't wait to kill the next quarter-century of our lives together. Let's find a band and go dancing.

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Dec 14, 2015 at 8:03pm PST

Alright, a day late, cause it was tough to articulate just how grateful I am that you're my friend. Also because I'm horribly forgetful, of which you are so characteristically forgiving. What a long, strange trip it's been...without you it would have been a little less strange, immensely less exciting and set to a painfully uninspiring soundtrack. So thank you for the music and mostly just for being there. There from the beginning when we were 13 and there from the other side of the world when we were 23. Here's to 25 and a never ending, strange trip ahead. Happy Birthday Matty, see you soon 😎

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Mar 8, 2016 at 6:25pm PST

Warmest birthday wishes to the world's greatest Gardner of Girls. Deity of Daughters. Master of Motherhood. An embodiment of beauty in every sense of the word. Thank you for life, for lessons and most importantly for love. For understanding the immeasurable value of motherly love in a child's upbringing. Such a seemingly simple concept so commonly neglected. We hit the genetic jackpot and we don't forget it. Happy Birthday - you are the greatest and we love you.

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Jan 9, 2015 at 11:50am PST

For this girl. And the rest of life's little sisters. So they no longer grow up feeling the pressure to find a prince and create their own crown instead. So they see that sometimes being nasty is nothing but necessary. Because there's a difference between normalized and right. Because I've been in too many locker room talks, and I prefer a president who values humanity over gold. #whyimarch

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Jan 22, 2017 at 7:29am PST

#tbt to a year ago. The Portuguese minimalist on his nightly walk that smiled when I told him we're lost and looking for the sunset. So he took us as far west as the continent allows and the sand stretched miles while the sun melted over the sea. His name was Rishi but not when he was born. It was given to him by a Hindu master and means sage - like the spice, he said, but I knew better. With a strangely permanent goodbye at the train station he told me I had a nice spirit and my heart softened in a way that stayed. #tribute to the day and the place and the person that effortlessly and unknowingly changed me forever. #apicturesays117words

A post shared by Mary Kate Gough (@emkaygo) on Apr 23, 2015 at 12:44pm PDT