a letter to my mom

 

Mom with Drew on the day he was born (12.28.10)

Mims-

I was up this morning at 3:30, I'm pretty sure 30 years ago you weren't totally comfortable at that exact moment. And by "weren't comfortable" I mean "wanted to murder someone you were in so much pain" because they'd turned off your epidural (why would they do something so cruel?!?!).

Val told us that every year on her birthday she writes a letter to her mother because it was her mom who did all of the hard work that day... she should be the one celebrated! So, thank you, Mom, for enduring awful nausea during those early months and then labor for me. I literally wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you. :)

Oh shoot, I haven't even typed anything yet and I'm crying.

1. Thank you for loving me even on those days when you probably wanted to run the opposite direction from me as soon as Dad got home from work. Thank you for putting up with my crying and teething and non-napping. I obviously don't remember any of that, but I'm pretty sure from watching you after I got a little older that you were loving and patient. Sometimes after a really rough day with Drew I don't know how you did it with two kids. Okay, after even an easy day with Drew I don't know how you did it with two kids. :)
2. Thank you for having Kim and for developing a friendship between us. It is the best thing to have a friend for 28 years who knows nearly everything about you.
3. Thank you for being so creative. I remember all those times you had us making crafts for Dad... how many pencil can holder did he have on his desk decorated with macaroni? Craft time was always so fun and it's given me ideas for all kinds of things to do with Drew when he is old enough to know not to eat the glue and dried macaroni.
4. I loved how you made whatever we gave you seem like it was the best gift ever. I remember one of the first times I was able to pick out your gift by myself and Dad took Kim and I to Wal-Mart or some where and I got you these Christmas towels (now that I remember it, they were sort of appliqued and ugly but I loved it then) and you used them for the kitchen and bathroom. Maybe you hated them too but you never let on to that...
5. Thank you for making birthdays and holidays the most special days... I always felt like the Queen on my birthday with balloons on my locker, a special meal that you brought me for lunch, a present at the end of my bed when I woke up... you outdid yourself. Anything I do with event planning is because of you and because you have such a great way of making someone feel so special and loved on any special day (or even on a normal run-of-the-mill day).
6. Do you know I can't remember one time growing up that you ever made me feel like I was interrupting you, EVEN when I was so annoying and kept passing you notes while you were on the phone? You NEVER made me feel like I was interrupting your dinner prep or your cleaning... there is a lot I need to learn from that... and you aren't even one of those people whose house was chaos and fed her children chicken nuggets every night... I don't know how you did it while making Kim and I feel like the most important thing in your life at that moment.
7. You gave up so much for Kim and I... I'm not sure how expertly raising two kids has anything to do with the math degree you got from Gordon, oh wait, it doesn't... but you never made Kim or I feel like you were missing out on something. You rocked the stay at home mom job. Your occupation under Facebook is "Mother" even though you are working part time now and you have two grown kids and a grandson... You know I loved when you showed up at carpool smelling of cookies ... you'd drive 45 minutes to drop us off and pick us up at school before we moved to Whitinsville... that's commitment.
8. I love that you and Dad made such a strong commitment for us to be a family that you would have dinner ready for all four of us at 9pm during the nights I had volleyball or Kim had drama just so we could eat as a family.
9. Most of all, Mims, I love that 30 years later you still call me all the time and treat me just as specially as you did when we were kids. You read every blog post religiously and gave AJ a present for me to open in bed this morning (even if he did have to tell me to get back in bed for me to open it... I absolutely love it and am wearing it in all of its sparkly goodness right now. :)). You treat Drew as if he was your own son and love on AJ and make birthday plans with him. You still make me hot chocolate when I come over because you know it's my favorite and listen to all my woes and whining.

Thank you for never giving up on me and loving me through everything.
Love you, Mims-

Jenny xoxo

I would have put a picture here of us right after Drew was born but I looked like a nightmare and you looked great so forget about that... Here is one right either right after or before the c-section... I forget... :)