family
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Living My Legacy
Dear Mom, Before you got sick, how often did you think about dying? Did you ever? Was it a fear you had? I don’t remember ever talking to you about death. Not until the very end. By then it was… Continue reading
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Progress Not Perfection
Dear Mom, Did you ever contemplate your success as a parent? As of a week ago, I would have said it’s my biggest strength. Being a mom, since the very beginning, has been the one part of my life where… Continue reading
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Challenge Accepted
Dear Mom, Have you ever felt like there was something you couldn’t do? Have you ever stopped yourself out of a fear of failure or assumption that it wasn’t achievable? Have you ever done it anyway and surprised yourself? Accomplished… Continue reading
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Beyond The Thread
Dear Mom, Each week when I write these letters to you, I inevitably type numerous sentences that don’t make it to the final draft. The nature of this style of writing, where I pick myself apart, leads to me going… Continue reading
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Loud and Proud
Dear Mom, Last week I wrote about the similarities my children have to you. So much about them that reminds me of my mother. This week I’ve been wondering what you would have been like if you were encouraged more… Continue reading
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Keeping Your Memory Alive
Dear Mom, I fear that I have failed you. Before you died, you asked us to never stop telling stories about you. It was, in my memory, your biggest dying wish. You wanted to make sure that your memory would… Continue reading
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Life, Death, and the Diagnosis That Came Between Us
Dear Mom, I’ve been writing a lot lately about my need and desire to forgive and move on from the mistakes I made as a teenager and young adult. All the moments when I screwed up and all the apologies… Continue reading
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Mothers and Daughters
Dear Mom, It’s not lost on me that I waited until after your death to ask you the big questions. That I am actively choosing to ask you because you can’t answer. I realize now that there were many times… Continue reading
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Can I Ask You Something?
Dear Mom, As I begin to explore the true source of my insecurities, I have one big question for you. First, I want to put it out there that I’m not blaming you. I know that my problems are my problems. I… Continue reading
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I Need You, Again
Dear Mom, It’s been over four years since I last wrote to you. I’m sorry. I could come up with a bunch of excuses. Life got in the way. I took a break from writing nonfiction to focus on my… Continue reading
Sober Letters to Mom 