Dear Mom:

Thank you.

Thank you for being the rock that this family is built on.  Thank you for being the glue that holds us together.

You taught us to recycle long before being environmentally conscious was a thing.  You taught me that safety is important, and you taught this by example.  I can't even get in a car without doing up my seatbelt, and I don't even have to think about it.  Life jackets in the water.  Helmets for riding bikes.  Awareness of the potential danger in all things.

With an Autistic son, these are even more important, and may have saved my child's life.

Thank you.

For your tireless prayer and concern for me and the family I have made.  For your worry and anxiety and concern for the children you raised and now make their own way in the world.

Thank you.

For the way you love my children, and the joy you find in them, and the joy you build in them.

Thank you.

For the way you love and support my father, who with his physical and otherwise ailments, is not always the easiest person to love, or support, or care for.

Thank you.

You taught me what it is to be a feminist, long before I ever thought to explore such things.  You were always strong and capable.  With your four daughters, you showed us that together we could do anything a man could do.  (It sometimes took us longer, but we got the job done.  We found a way.)  You taught me that doing daily chores could be an act of love, and that doing the 'pink' jobs around the house made you no less of a strong, capable, intelligent woman.  You taught me quiet grace. (Though that lesson didn't really take with me.  I am in turns either very loud, or silent.  And graceful has never been my strong suit.)

Thank you.

You taught me compassion, and responsibility to those who have less.  You taught me that accepting help when you very much need it does not make you lesser, and you taught me to pay that help forward whenever you are able.

Thank you.

You taught me to be kind to animals, and you taught me patience and forbearance in the face of daily frustrations.  You taught me that carrying a child within you is not necessary in order to love it as your own.

You showed me that love is hard, and messy, and painful, and oh-so-very-worth all of those things.

And you show me this every day.

Thank you.

I love you so very, very much.


With all my love,
                     -Nan