NL #15: Dear Mom—
This mother’s day weekend I am thinking of you and of how grateful I am for all that you are to me. You gave me birth—that forty-five minute public bus ride to Grady Hospital in Atlanta must have been uncomfortable, as were the hours of labor to come. You raised me: those years that you drove around with the book How to Talk to Your Teenage Daughter in the front seat indicate that my teenage years weren’t too comfortable for you, either. Then, as an adult, I have needed your continuing love and support (sometimes literally), as I came out as a lesbian and then survived two brain tumors. I wonder if you know how much you mean to me.
Yesterday, as the naturopath quizzed me on all my ailments, she remarked that I must have a strong spirit to have made it through radiation, piggy flu, and pneumonia with only a little depression. Your strength and unconditional love have made my spirit strong.
When I went through the family slides last summer to create the photo book, I was struck by the number of pictures where you and I were laughing. I remember us laughing together. The time that stands out to me the most is the time we were playing ping pong and I kept trying to confuse you about the score.
I’ve never been so good as my siblings in celebrating you on Mothers’ Day: Jennifer and her flowers without baby’s breath and Matt and his Mother’s Day poetry (now forwarding films of bears in the wild that remind him of you.) I do, however, celebrate you every day, for supporting me in my toughest times and for laughing with me just because we enjoy one another.
I love you, Mom—
Mary
A Photograph of me without me in it
A photograph of me without me in it
My Dear Child,
ReplyDeleteYou have always been a delight and so patient with me even when you were a teenager - you see the first born has to endure the mistakes of her mother's good intentions (of course, Jennifer and Matthew had to endure some themselves!). Oftentimes I have wondered if this is truly your first sojourn through this life as you have always been wise beyond your years. Obviously I have had many reasons to smile - thank you for making my role as a mother so meaningful and fulfilling.
I love you, Mom