I have been writing letters for most
of my life.
I started writing letters at
age 9 ~ to my Mother. She was working away from the home for about four months
and I missed her deeply. Those letters
from an adolescent girl contained as much language as I had in my vocabulary to
communicate to my Mom how much I missed and loved her but also that I was okay.
I can’t imagine as a Mom receiving letters like those!
I wrote letters to my boyfriend (and later fiancé)
when we were destined to struggle through a long distance relationship. Those
letters too contained all my hopes and dreams for us and as much as the written
word allowed ~ expressed my undying love.
I wrote letters ‘back home’ to my parents, my
siblings and friends in my early years of marriage. Again, the letter was my way of staying in
touch (even then I abhorred phone calls – for two reasons. 1. I couldn’t afford the long distance charges
and 2. I prefer face to face communication).
When my children were born, I wrote a poem to
each of them. The poems describe a new Mom's thoughts, love and emotions shortly after giving birth. Those poems are still in
my handwriting, pasted into their ‘baby books’.
Life got busy after that and my letter writing subsided.
Fast forward a few decades and the morning(s)
of their wedding(s) were upon me. I sat
down once again, pen to paper and penned a letter to each of them.
Those
letters were recently found in a journal (of which I have many) and fearing
that they would be misplaced, I decided to bear my soul and include them in
this blog.
The letters speak for themselves.
JUNE 23RD 2005: 7A:M
MY DARLING DAUGHTER
How I have rehearsed what I would say to you
on your wedding day~but I find myself speechless.
I have cherished every moment of our journey
to this day. Watching you, listening to your plans, ‘doing lunch’ or maybe just
sitting side by side, has me in awe.
I woke early this morning with so many
memories flooding through my head. I finally had my ‘moment’ on the front
veranda with my coffee and magazine. Can you just picture me crying into my
coffee?!
A ‘morning dove’ flew down and landed in the
flower bed…scared the wits out of both me and Callie who was sitting in the
doorway. Leave it to the cats to make me laugh!
OH MY…I feel so blessed to know that you have
reached womanhood with such grace and dignity.
I love being your Mother!
God Bless and keep you Alaina – always in His
care.
I look so forward to a lifetime of precious
moments with you!
Love Today and Always
Your Mom
 |
| One of many 'Mother/Daughter" moments |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JUNE 25TH, 2009 ~ Late at night
Dear Greg
It’s the eve of your wedding day and as is
tradition, I write a letter to you before you leave on your journey and new
life with your beautiful bride, Shalene.
A thousand times I have tried to gather my
thoughts and prepare myself for your ‘big day’. But each time the words escaped
me ~ it’s only after all this time I realize there aren’t quite enough words!
So, I will make an attempt…
I feel so blessed to be a part of this day
and to be in your life to celebrate this important life changing moment. I can’t help but wonder what I ever did in my
lifetime to deserve such a wonderful son. It is indeed a humbling experience
and one which I have never taken for granted.
I am so happy for you!
To watch you over the years as you grew
mentally and physically into the beautiful young man you are today makes me
feel like the luckiest Mother alive.
I’m sitting in my sun porch – Dakota is curled
up beside me and LeeAnn Womak’s song is playing! How fitting! As she sings “may you never lose
your sense of wonder”, it’s like she wrote this line for you.
Greg, never lose your compassion; your unique
sense of humor; and your incredible capacity to love. You are truly a beautiful
spirit and when I watch other people respond to you, I know they see it too!
So, don’t ever change. Just thinking of you brings a smile to my face. You have
been blessed! As I see you and Shay together, it is beautiful and heartwarming.
God Bless you Greg. You are the son I dreamed
of having and I will always marvel at how dreams do actually come true!
Love today and always
Your Mom
 |
| Dancing with my Son ~ a proud Mama |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letters are powerful.
My Mother taught me a
valuable lesson early in life. “Be careful with your written word”. Without the
tone and inflection the written word can be misinterpreted so I learned early
to edit, edit, edit my letters.
A few years ago, I wrote letters to my (then)
unborn grandson, so someday he will truly understand how much he is loved and
why he was such a miracle in all our lives. Those letters are in a scrapbook
for him to enjoy later.
I don’t write letters as much anymore. With the electronic mail, it is quicker and
easier to communicate with those dear to me. Again, I practice ‘the edit’ as
even more so, it is dangerous to hit the send button before rereading your
script.
“Compare sending someone a text message and
getting a love letter delivered by carrier pigeon. No contest.” ……Bryan Callen
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