Happy Mother's Day Mom

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day. I remembered to send you a card this year, but I seriously doubt it will get there on time. It is a shame I didn't put more time and effort into picking you out a wonderful gift, because you really deserve it. You are a great Mom. You were back then, and you are an even better Mom now.

Thank you for all of the wonderful things that you have done for me, and all of the invaluable life lessons you have bestowed upon me.

I know at times that you feel you made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, and that some things you wish you had done differently. I want to tell you in no uncertain terms, that while sure- you did make some mistakes- (okay a lot of mistakes) I think you did a really wonderful job. You were, and are- a really good Mom.

In fact, I am most grateful for the mistakes that you made, because in making them, you taught me the most valuable lesson of all. Mistakes are inevitable; we all make them. What you taught me Mom, was to move on. Even though we make mistakes, we cannot let our lives be guided by them, and we cannot dwell too much on the past.

You taught me a lot of other things too.

You taught me a lot about being silly and having fun. Singing songs and making silly crafts was such an important part of my life.

Thank you for taking time to play with me, and make me feel special every day.

Thank you for all of the times you sat patiently braiding my thin, very thin hair into a hundred tiny braids. Thank you for making clothes for my Barbie dolls, and thank you for demanding that Shawn Gibson's Mom retrieve them for me after Shawn stole them from our house.

Thank you for spending your lunch hours at the mall searching your heart out for Esprit items at a price discounted enough that you could afford them. Thank you for bringing me home all the things you could find with Scottie dogs on them simply because I was going through a short lived fascination with little black dogs.

Thank you for teaching me every word to Bobby McGee and One Tin Soldier. Thank you for singing them to me over and over again every time I asked. I have not one memory of a time when you would not sing those songs to me. Now I sing them to my children, and I am proud to pass on the messages of love and peace that those song hold, and to tell them how my Mom sang those songs to me.

Thank you so much for teaching me about peace. Thank you also for teaching me about kindness. You have been on the receiving end of some of those most unkind acts I have ever seen put upon another person- and not once do I remember you acting out in violence, anger, or hatred. Some people talk an awful lot about peace and nonviolence, but it takes a special person to live those values every day.

Thank you also for teaching me about forgiveness and understanding.

Thank you for teaching me about creativity and resourcefulness, about turning nothing into something.

Thank you for teaching me about looking inside of yourself in your darkest moments and pulling out something amazing in the form of art. Without art, I don't know how I would find my place in this world. Having faith in my art comes straight from you- from watching you diligently create. I know that creativity is not an end product, it is how someone lives their life; It's a way of being. Thank you for that Mom.

Thank you for teaching me that it is okay to be beautiful, no matter what others think of you. Thank you for teaching me that beauty comes from the inside, and that you have to believe in yourself. I know we have a lot in common when it comes to accepting our bodies; I know we both struggle in recognizing our own beauty at times. But what you taught me about my body, is that I am in charge of it. You taught me about eating right- even when all I wanted was Captain Crunch Cereal and Chicken McNuggets. Given some of the other influences I have had in my life, your diligence and good example in diet and exercise was the saving grace of my body and health. No doubt I have a long healthy life ahead of me, and I owe that to you.

Thank you for making my dresses for so many of the dances I attended. I never felt more special than I did at my first big dance in the eighth grade wearing the coolest dress I have ever seen. I wish I still had it. I would wear it all the time if I could. Do you remember it? The wild aqua print with the thin, silky spaghetti straps?

Thank you for always believing in me throughout high school, and for taking my side when you felt it really mattered. Thank you for being understanding when I felt the need to run across the country being stupid and reckless, and taking the time to remember when you were doing the same thing.

Thank you for making all of my hippie friends peanut butter and jelly crepes, and not yelling at me when those same friends gave you head lice.

Thank you for not flinching when I became a young single mom, and lovingly taking me into your home- and moving into a bigger one so that there was room for us. Thank you for giving me the time and space to settle into my new life. Thank you for watching my baby, after a long day of work so that I too, could work. And, thank you for watching him while I played and pretended that it was normal for a twenty year old single mom to go out with her friends every night after her baby was asleep.

Thank you for admiring me, and being proud of me as we left your home and I headed off to college by myself. Your faithful support built me up and kept me strong enough to get through it all, and come out on top.

Thank you for being there for me now, in my own 30-something life struggles. Thank you for owning up to your weaknesses, and working through those moments with me. Thank you for being an honest, real person who I can say anything to. I hope you never underestimate the power of that. Being able to say anything to a person without fear of retribution is a gift of immeasurable love.

A person is only a child for a short time in their lives, but they remain a daughter forever. I am so fortunate to have you as my mother, and as my friend. I look forward to sharing all of life's up and downs with you, I look forward to all of it, for many, many more years of it.

Thank you Mom, for being you.

Love,
Shannon