life
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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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I’m Ready to Return my Buyer’s Remorse
Dear Mom, When I was growing up, I often watched you while you sat on the couch. Legs stretched out long in your corner. Watching TV with a checkbook in your hands. “What are you doing?” I’d ask. “Balancing the… 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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Taking Control
Dear Mom, Something unexpected happened to me this week. It might be due to some podcast episodes I’ve been listening to about habits and happiness, but I had a moment where everything changed for me. It’s as if suddenly I… Continue reading
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Connecting the Dots
Dear Mom, Recently, I had a conversation with Idris about some bad choices he had been making. Small instances of questionable behavior that I noticed. This is what my almost six-year-old boy said in response to my concerns. He told… 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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Letting Go
Dear Mom, When you died, I went into your nightstand and, along with all the books you’d been reading, I took all your journals. All your handwritten notes. I am so like you. Almost every journal is unfinished. A few… 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
Sober Letters to Mom 