Blessed to have the opportunity once again, I walked to the Mother's Day card aisle and shared shoulder space with a painter combing the cards who had obviously made a quick stop during his work day. He seemed to struggle with finding just the right fit as he commented aloud about several of them to his co-worker waiting patiently behind him.
There's this painstaking pursuit laden within a hope that the exact words you feel will be found in the card.
After a bit of a search, he ventured, "You're having trouble, too, aren't you?"
"Well, I found a good card, but it doesn't have an envelope," I explained.
"I just find one in the color I like that matches and go with that," he advised, not knowing I was already trying to find one to match the pinks.
As if my success left him a bit despondent, he decided to go with the current card in hand and flippantly said to his co-worker, "Well, it doesn't matter. She's just going to read it and throw it on the table anyway." He seemed to quickly lose the reverence he had previously placed in his card selection.
I stepped to lean around the aisle so he could see me and asserted with a smile, "Not if YOU write your words in there!"
There's this painstaking pursuit laden within a hope that the exact words you feel will be found in the card.
He laughingly related to me that he would be sure to add his signature. I guaranteed him that his mom would stand that card tall on the table if he put part of himself in there. "Not if YOU write YOUR WORDS in there!" I encouraged. The end of our short exchange had him believing that this woman he was buying a card for was worth writing 3-4 lines.
We moms read those cards our kids write, draw, and color. We believe every OXOX and "Love always" and the "Your the best" because we all want to be told we are somebody's best love for always, and we dedicated our heart to giving you our best love for always from the moment we knew you were ours. We embed those words personally written in your cards in our soul because we know we can't freeze frame every moment of our lives together.
Write the words! And remember that the card is not a waste: "Not if YOU write YOUR WORDS in there!"
I know this painstaking pursuit laden within a hope that the exact words I feel will be found in a card only truly happens when they are my words.
Here are my words I wrote to my mom this year because I want her to hear them in her soul in the here and now.
There's this painstaking pursuit laden within a hope that the exact words you feel will be found in the card.
"Well, I found a good card, but it doesn't have an envelope," I explained.
"I just find one in the color I like that matches and go with that," he advised, not knowing I was already trying to find one to match the pinks.
As if my success left him a bit despondent, he decided to go with the current card in hand and flippantly said to his co-worker, "Well, it doesn't matter. She's just going to read it and throw it on the table anyway." He seemed to quickly lose the reverence he had previously placed in his card selection.
I stepped to lean around the aisle so he could see me and asserted with a smile, "Not if YOU write your words in there!"
There's this painstaking pursuit laden within a hope that the exact words you feel will be found in the card.
He laughingly related to me that he would be sure to add his signature. I guaranteed him that his mom would stand that card tall on the table if he put part of himself in there. "Not if YOU write YOUR WORDS in there!" I encouraged. The end of our short exchange had him believing that this woman he was buying a card for was worth writing 3-4 lines.
We moms read those cards our kids write, draw, and color. We believe every OXOX and "Love always" and the "Your the best" because we all want to be told we are somebody's best love for always, and we dedicated our heart to giving you our best love for always from the moment we knew you were ours. We embed those words personally written in your cards in our soul because we know we can't freeze frame every moment of our lives together.
Write the words! And remember that the card is not a waste: "Not if YOU write YOUR WORDS in there!"
I know this painstaking pursuit laden within a hope that the exact words I feel will be found in a card only truly happens when they are my words.
Here are my words I wrote to my mom this year because I want her to hear them in her soul in the here and now.
Some things I want you to
know before I don’t say them in this lifetime…
You read and read and led me
to want to discover what was so attractive on those pages. You read me to
cherish books, reading, and words. I wanted A’s to get your magical reward: the
opportunity to slow browse among an entire bookstore for a new book of any cost
to relax in a new adventure all my own.
You led me to be satisfied
with who I am, but to still satisfy the dreams of what I want to be. The subtle advice that purple eyeshadow made
my blue/green eyes look sick and to be content with my little more squish near
the hips because guys don’t like sticks.
You taught me that a vacation
now and then is a must if I want sanity.
And we discovered that those to the beach and mountains will keep my
bigger than life sorrows small in the face of the God that created the heavens
and the seas.
You made me feel okay with my
quiet, introspective soul. You’ve worked hard to help me not be so hard headed
on myself. You’ve reminded me that
loving myself well is sometimes a hard-won struggle. Your early couple
successful attempts to get me to take a “sick day” from high school and do
lunch with you helped me to breath more deeply and slowly about what really
matters. Your rally cry still rings to
help me find balance and be okay with “good enough.”
You showed me that sometimes
mothering might accidentally cause tears, harsh words, and seemingly eccentric
behavior. But, you also helped me to see
the truth of this Velveteen world--that we have to be real with one another,
and that real life in its heaviness can also be followed by the calm, a hug, a
soft word of forgiveness. That we become
more real in the molding of a lifetime of loving. That when we are real with
one another we might not mind getting hurt by a few sharp edges because we all
want to be truly seen in our ugliness and loved anyway. And you taught me to
see deeper into the heart of others, to believe in what we can’t always see, to
believe in the innate good we all really want others to believe about us.
We both know we carry a boatload
of memories that we wish we would have done better, but you taught me that
unless I want to feel shipwrecked by failing moments to find the best of
friends to help unload the boat to sail more softly into the breeze of laughter
and grace.
You showed me that love is
risky and not flawless, but it’s perfectly worth giving a fighting chance.
I love you
Cher
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