A tribute

My 93 year-old mother died last week.  My emotions would not allow me to orally pay tribute to her during her Vigil.  I decided to use this forum to quietly try and accomplish what I need to say.  It is a thank you note to my Mother.

Dear Mom,

Thank you for everything you did for me growing up

Specifically,

Thank you for teaching me how to bake; thank you for warning me not to eat cookie dough because it could give me worms.

Thank you for teaching me how to be a kind person, specifically if someone gives you food in a dish; never return the dish empty

Always, always handwrite thank you notes your penmanship was beautiful; thank you for teaching me to be neat

Thank you for teaching me grooming tips; specifically, don’t wear jeans or perfume in the summer.

I Thanks for cooking for us, it must really have taken a lot of work to plan meals, to go to the grocery store, to read labels and pick the best foods to keep our bodies healthy.

Thanks for helping me grow up Mom!

Thank you for teaching me to be organized, to do my homework, clean my room and to practice my piano.

Thank you for believing in me, encouraging me to do my best and to try new things love myself and I am proud of myself. I have confidence and I believe in myself because of you. Thank you for supporting my dreams and ideas, even when they seem far-fetched or silly to you. I need to make mistakes and have failures to grow, so thanks for being there when I’m down, and for helping me find my way back up.

Thanks for working so hard for so many years to support all my dreams and needs.  I will never forget watching you get ready for work at 10:30 each night, going to work until 7:00 the next morning and sleeping all day so you could be home when we returned from school.  You were eternally tired.  AS I write this, I wonder when you had fun or did something just for you.  In my 57 years of knowing you, I can’t think of one instance where you just focused on you.  That is astonishing.

Thank you for modeling how to be respectful, kind to others and patient with old or sick people, Even though I didn’t always listen to you, I did always heard you.  Even when there were six other kids around, you always took the time to listen to me.  I was the special person in the room at that moment.

Mom, thanks for driving me all over the town to friends, tryouts, activities, performances, games, concerts, auditions and practices,

Thanks for noticing when I helped around the house. With seven kids it was hard to single any one of us out but you did when it was important.

Tanks for teaching me life skills; you’re helping me learn how to become a happy and healthy adult one day. You’re giving me limits and structure but also space and confidence to step out toward independence.

My mothers, as all mothers, deserve to be thanked for their tireless, passionate, endless work as Moms. They don’t get sick days, personal days and we really don’t even get Mother’s Day off.

I love you. Thank you for loving me in all the ways that you did.

Love,  your child – Ann Margaret A.K.A number 6