Happy Mother’s Day
Sunday, May 8th, 2011Dear Mom,
Today is Mother’s Day, and, just like birthdays, I never really understood how special a day it was until I had my own kids. It’s not about breakfast in bed or preschool craft projects or a card Dad bought and I just wrote my name on because I was too busy planning how to best get into trouble with my friends to remember which Sunday in May was supposed to be for you. It’s about saying how much I appreciate everything you did for me.
Thank you for all the homemade cookies and for never telling me I probably shouldn’t eat another one because I needed to be thin to make people like me.
Thank you for reading to me and for doing funny voices when we read The Hobbit. You were a better Gollum than that guy in the movie ever was.
Thank you for being so strict, because without your rules and boundaries I might have grown up too fast.
Thank you for telling me it was OK to change my mind if I didn’t want to be a marine biologist anymore after I went to college, because Holy Cow did I NOT want to be a marine biologist anymore after I went to college and it was such a relief to switch majors without worrying you’d be mad.
Thank you for showing me what a good marriage looks like – it’s amazing you and Dad are still so strong even though you got married at 22.
Thank you for being excited when I told you I was engaged, even though I was only 22.
Thank you for totally agreeing with me on every detail of my wedding and for laughing at mother-daughter pairs who fought over things like flower arrangements and plated appetizers.
Thank you for coming to help when I had my babies – I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you.
Thank you for being an amazing grandmother to Evan and Caroline and for always respecting my parenting choices.
I’m sorry for all the times I made you worry, the times I yelled at you, the screaming and crying and throwing myself on the floor (both as a toddler AND as an over-dramatic teenager), the broken curfews, the secrets I tried to keep, and that time I stopped speaking to you (even though I don’t think you even knew about it). I had to be a mom to understand how much your children can hurt you and how much it means to hear them say they didn’t mean to.
Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being my mom.
Love, Your Daughter,
Suzanne