Mother’s Day: A Letter To My Children

To all my children,

On this Mother’s Day as I get to enjoy being extra celebrated, I feel like I should be celebrating all of you.  I want to sincerely thank each of you for truly bringing out the best in me, for giving me life, and purpose. For teaching me what God’s unconditional love looks and feels like, and for teaching me what patience and forgiving seven times seventy looks like.  (And then how to do it all over again the next day and the next.)

For mostly laughing with me and not at me.  For almost always liking my cooking and yet never forgetting to remind me of that one time I let you believe the fish was chicken and then forever questioning any white meat I served in a new dish.

I will forever cherish the smell of your freshly bathed hair and skin, the way your head always found the little crook in my neck where it fit best.  Hours of dramatic play and acting out stories and movies. Endless games, meets, tournaments, and matches where I cheered like a fool and clapped until my hands hurt.  And now all the stories. And laughter. And memories.

Thank you for posing for endless pictures, helping me to create a visual timeline of our lives.  I was so determined to capture every bit of it, and never forget a thing. And I know I will cherish them when I am old and grey and need the pictures to help jog my memory.  

Thank you for overlooking my failures big and small, because there were so many.  And for never asking me to drop you off a block from the school, or make myself scarce when your friends were around.

Thank you for the early mornings when you just wanted to cuddle in your warm “footie jammies” and morning coffee dates as you grew.  For long drives and good talks on the way to sports events. And movie nights in a giant “nest” of pillows and blankets.  And for warm, lazy afternoons floating on the water.

Thank you for teaching me that love can ever increase and that no matter how many of you there were, my heart would continue to grow and love and swell and feel as though it might burst.  

Thank you for giving me the honor of holding your hand when you were excited, nervous, sick, or scared.  For being your first call when you wanted to share good news or bad, or just check in.

Every day that I have been your mother, and every day that I get to continue, I feel as though I get one step closer to who I am and what I was created to be.  It’s as if God knew right from the beginning of time that whatever I did and what ever-changing role He placed me in, my most important, most fulfilling, most heart stretching, beautiful purpose would be to be your mother.  And to love you well. I hope I have. And I hope I will get better at it as we all continue to grow.

It is an honor and a privilege to love you and I don’t take it lightly.  For as long as I can remember you are exactly what I have wanted, and you are all a gift.  Each and every one of you. A gift.

I love you,
~Mom

PS – To my husband,
Thank you for helping me become the mother I am today.  Of all the gifts in the world that you ever could have wanted to give me, these amazing children are the absolute best.  Thank you for letting me be who I was created to be. And for loving me through the rough times. I love you!