A Letter to my Daughter

Dear Daughter,

I can't get you out of my mind. I heard once that a mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child. You may not actually be my unhappiest child but I feel the burden of your situation. It stinks! There are others in a similar place but that knowledge is of little comfort. I can't help but reflect that my mother was in a equally difficult spot. 

Here she is visiting my father in the hospital when he got injured in the war. They are holding it together but she looks less relieved than he does. So I wonder how she coped? I look at what she did so well until the end of her days. She was physically active, not in an exercise regimen but in her daily walks and her joy in work.

Here she is on the back of a motorbike. Her spirit was much more connected to her body than mine is. She loved to move and knew where she was in space. She also found joy in the natural world. I think her father taught her that.

Today she would be outside looking for spring. Here is what I found yesterday by the driveway. The crocus is so fragile looking but fights to come up even in the cold. They don't last long but being a sign seeker I see it as a gift from God, a down payment on the promise of new life.

Stay in the moment and enjoy those babies. Look! These guys were babies during war and time went on and the sadness turned to joy again and they grew into men whose families love them and honor them.

And you will learn to pray. I pray for angels to visit you and tend to your care.

Love, Mom