Dear Jackrabbit,
Be good to your mother. It’s Mother’s Day.
Actually, you should be good to your mother everyday. Good advice.
Best advice.
We won’t talk about the 36 hours of labor today. We won’t discuss the months of swollen feet during the pregnancy. We won’t discuss what I have come to call “The Grand Guignol” of your actual birth. We won’t even mention 10 pounds and 10 ounces.
10 freakin’ pounds and 10 freakin’ ounces.
No. Today we’ll talk about how much of a superhero your mother is. Not just to you, my boy, or even to me. She’s a superhero for folks all over the place. Her job is helping people in crisis–families mostly. She helps people make sure they have a roof. She helps make sure they have food. She makes sure they can find healthcare. She makes sure they can get help when they need it, and she shows them how to do a lot of this for themselves.
I am immensely proud and in awe of her every single day, and you should be as well. She deals with situations I know I am not equipped to handle. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to get her to the position where she can do miracles for people like this, and for that we greatly appreciate her.
And as a mother?
Uf. You, my son, are the light of her life. And I can promise you that the same dedication she has toward being a superhero to other people, goes double, triple, quadruple for you.
You will always be able to count on her.
It’s what mothers do, and they do this with no expectation of appreciation, but I’m telling you they deserve it–not just today, but every single day.
This also goes for your grandmother–your mother’s mother. She, too, is an awesome mom. She has always been there when we need her, and we try to do the same.
Family, boy. It’s a good thing.
There will be some trying times ahead. That’s called life. There will be arguments, misunderstandings, hurt feelings and the like. The trick is to remember what is most important. That thing that makes everything all right in the end.
Love.
That’s really all I need to say.
Tell your mother and grandmother I said “Happy Mother’s Day.”
All my love,
–Dad
