Dear Mom,
How do you tell a mother what she means to you without resorting to cliché? So many things that people say about mothers reflect the basic things that all mothers do. None of them makes any one mother much different from any other mother. Somehow, though, you’re different – better – than the other mothers I knew.
You knew how children would be children, and you didn’t blame them for being children. With you, children felt safe enough to smear paint and glue however they liked, and talked about the fun things they did with “Mrs. Hyphenated's Mom/Aunt Martha/Grand”. Girl Scouts, my friends, the girls and boys you taught, all knew that you loved the good things they had to offer and expected to see those things. And they wanted to show you.
I was always so proud of you when people would tell me things like, “Your mother is the only real band parent,” and, “Your mom was so adorable on stage last Saturday for Jamboree,” and, “You have a real-mom mom. She does all the right mom things.” I was all, “Yeah, I raised her right.”
Did you know that at one time, my credit rating was over 800? All you. You once told me how to be responsible with credit, and damn if it didn’t work. Everyone wanted to give me a mortgage and when I need loans or credit, it’s easy. Do you know that I have never touched illegal drugs? All you. You once told me that “any amount of drugs is too much.” I never took anything. And did you know that I have never once stopped believing in God, even when it looked like I had thumbed my nose at all of that? All you.
My husband didn’t say this, but he told me that he decided to marry me after he met you. He knew that all your good qualities would eventually come to me, and he loved me for that.
Love,
Hyphenated