Dear Mom: A Letter from Your Daughter

Dear Mom,

It’s a challenge trying to summarize it all, you know. Being your daughter, telling you how I feel in so little words; it’s not an easy task. I’ll try my best to do you justice, mom.

I always do.

You see, I came into this life after our family faced the greatest loss. I’ll never pretend to know the grief you faced as a mother losing your only son after 5 years. I’ll never know how hard you worked to provide a life that was filled with joy instead of sadness.

Being your daughter-I think as a collective whole, the world would agree I didn’t make it easy for you. A bit of a ballbuster, a challenger by default, and never one to hold my tongue. I challenged you, as you did me. But, you were there.

It may not have been in the ways I thought I needed, but you were always there. You always showed up. You fought for me, you guided me, you made so many rules that probably saved my life. You cried with me when the mean kids made my life hell, you held me when my heart was broken, you made sure my wedding day was magic, you got angry for me when my health went south, you have watched me spread my wings and become my own person. You’ve been there through it all, Mom.

You see, I know you don’t always understand how and why I do certain things. I know I may not have lived up to who you thought I would become, but I hope I make you proud. I hope you know you were the best mom.

I’d imagine raising three daughters was {is} no easy task. We are three fiercely different daughters, in looks, personality, desires, lifestyles, etc. But, I think you did a great job. We all love being your daughter. And despite the differences in our personalities, you provided each of us with our best friends. Those sisters you gave me, they really are above the rest. Being the youngest in a family comes with {all} the perks, namely, watching them become mothers first.

You see, Mom, it’s because of you that we all “mother” the way we do. Maybe we do some things really similarly to you, and maybe we do some things drastically differently, but it’s all because of you. It all comes back to you. We are who we are, because of you.

You continue to hold us when we crumble.

You continue to pray deeply for us.

You continue to believe in us {even when it makes you scratch your head in wonder.}

And, my goodness, watching you love our babies. It might be the greatest gift yet. The way you love our kids, how you surround them with love and hugs and sleepovers and grits for dinner. The way you love watching us be mothers, watching us raise tiny {or not so tiny} versions of ourselves. How you sit back and laugh when all of our most difficult qualities are right in front of us in the form of our kids. The way you don’t always agree with how we parent, but you know we get to make our own choices and maybe even mistakes {gasp!}

Your grandmotherly love, Nana, it’s really something special. Our kids may not know how great they have it when it comes to you, but we will do our best to make sure they know you are one of a kind. How lucky we all are to have you.

Thank you for your unconditional love.

Thank you for showing up for us, time and time again.

Thank you for all that you are.

Although we face{d} our challenges. I think we’ve made it through, don’t you?

I think we are better than ever.

I’m grateful for you, Mom. I hope you know how much you are loved, today and every day.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom

I love you.