Dear Mother...

Dear Daughter


Mother's Day has come and gone for another year. We spent the day at the lake, having a picnic with your Daddy. We played in the sand, put our feet in the water, and chased bubbles across the park. It was a very relaxed, and very perfect day spent with the two loves of my life.


After we came home, had you bathed, fed, read, and in bed, I finally got a chance to call my mother. We spent a good hour on the phone chatting about nothing and everything. How we spent out day, books we are reading, Avon catalogs and Old Navy must haves. The usual. Later on that night, I started some philosophical thinking. You know...The woulda, shoulda, coulda's. With us out here in Alberta, and your Nanny, Aunties, Uncles and other countless amount of Catholic-Newfie sized family out on the East Coast,  you can imagine we don't get to see them much. I started thinking back on all the grief, and hell-fire I put your Nanny through. All the late night card games, confessions and cuppa's in the kitchen. All the advice I didn't listen to and wish I had. And all of the numerous things we did together.


And I started thinking, if I had to make make a list, one that had all of the highlighted (in my mind anyways) points of those times. What would it look like? What would I say? Could I express how I really felt?  Her and I still write letters to one another, on top of the many phone calls. Mostly, we write about our days, recipes etc. But I really wanted her to know how much those chats, cuppa's, games etc meant to me. Not at the time.:) At the time my sole goals were to A) Spend as much time as I could with my girlfiriends. B)Marry the grade school crush. C) Look like anyone but me.


Now that I''m grown up, I finally have the chance to tell her what a great mother she really is. How is raised me to be confidant, kind and generous. To work hard for what I want and always follow my dreams. She told me to always keep smiling. Inspire others. Appreciate a good sense of humor. She raised me to be creative and use my imagination. And most of all, to love. Deeply, wholeheartedly, and without reservation. 


So here it is! A compilation of just a few of the things I want My Mother to know. Things I hope she knows, I still remember. Things that, for that time in my life, meant everything...


Dear Mom. 
I dyed my hair blue with Kool Aid, and you didn't say I told you so.
Thank You
Love, Your Kid.


Dear Mom, 
You always told me I could be and do whatever I set my heart to. Seeing how you were so good at it, I just want to be a good mommy and wife. But if I had to choose an actual job...
I want to be a(n)_____ (musician/Dr/actress/ninja turtle/lawyer/hippi/bad ass police officer/the person who owns Franks downtown).
Love, Your Kid


Dear Mom,
Remember when I _______ (tried to do the dishes & flooded the kitchen / thought a snake would be a good pet / painted a moustache on you while you were sleeping) & you totally forgave me?
Thanks for that. 
Love, your Kid.


Dear Mom,
You always made my pancakes into shapes and letters. I always loved that.
Now I do that for Macaroni.
Love, your Kid

Dear Mom,
You always pointed out that spitting/picking your nose/ 'hawking a lougi'/cussing weren't "Lady-Like" things to do. I didn't appreciate it, and now say the same things to MJ. 

You were right!

Love, your Kid


Dear Mom,
You sang to me. Sometimes you rhymed, sometimes you sang stories, and sometimes Dr. Hook lyrics stuck in my head for weeks. Sometimes songs were silly, sometimes they made no sense, and sometimes they involved kindly spoken threats if I didn't clean my room.
In my book; Happiness=Singing while you clean. You sang to me a lot.
Love, your Kid
P.S. "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. A barrel and a heap, and I'm talking in my seep....about you!"


Dear Mom,
When Daddy passed away, you held things together, and kept me sane. I never appreciated the strength you showed, when in hindsight, you were hurting too. Thank you for being you. Being there. Loving. 
Love, your Kid


Dear Mom,
So, remember that time that your Ashley-Morgan knocked your huge spider plant over and it made a big mess?
Yeah, that was me. Sorry. Forgive and forget yada yada yada
Love, your Kid


Dear Mom,
I made your special Christmastime Snowball recipe this year without you. I followed your plans to a tee (a dash or this, and now put in a good handful of that) and they turned out delicious. Still not like yours, but good.
Love, your Kid


Dear Mom,
"Did you ever know that your my hero" Having a Bette  Middler/Beaches moment. I loved watching that movie with you.
Love, your Kid


Dear Mom,
You wouldn't have REALLY beat us with the giant four foot spoon......would ya?
Love, your Kid

Dear Mom,
I wouldn't exist without you. Literally.
Thanks for that.
Love, your Kid.


Dear Mom,
Although we live far away, and we don't get to see each other much; I hope you know that I think about you everyday. We talk to Macaroni about you, show her pictures and tell her stories. We look forward to our skyping dates, long phone calls and letters in the mail. 
We love you. We miss you. We hope to see you soon.
Love, the Daughter you raised, inspired, and grew up to want to be just like you.