A Mother’s Love

A hand written envelope, two, three, then four tossed to the trash. Why keep numerous Christmas cards, birthday cards, or envelopes stamped and sent? Months later, it hit me. I’d just thrown away a running history of my mother’s love.

From the time I went to college and rushed to my little metal mailbox to find the monthly letter, which always enveloped a check and featured a smiley face, my mother had sent me mail. Unfailingly, she sent little notes to invoke happiness into my days of studenthood, then motherhood, and now, singlehood. 

Months after tossing so many date-stamped envelopes, I was saddened. What had I done? I just lost the physical documentation of something I took for granted. The love of a mother. She had, so carefully and precisely, taken her time to document my every address–25 to my count–from Pennsylvania to California, Boston to Cyprus, Greece to Morocco and now, Virginia. Out with the trash, it went. Spring Cleaning. Now, I look back and think, “Wow! I wiped clean amazing documentation of the chronicled and perfectly sequenced locations of my life, the birthplaces of my children, and the history of my cultural adaptations in one swoop fell … gone!”

Lamenting my actions, I called my mommy almost in tears, but the answering and reassuring voice of my mother quelled my loss and confirmed with calm discernment, once again, the learning curve of a child–albeit a grown child. Her unswayed understanding prompted me to write this piece and suggest to those of you who still have the chance to thank your mothers* for the small things she’s done; do so while you have the chance. Find something to cherish that can make you smile and remind you that the love of a mother is limitless and timeless even if it’s just a dated envelope. 

*Mother = whoever the reward and title of mother may go to in your life.

Footnote: Ironically, my mother, who had lost her own mother many years before, had come upon a written document of her own mother that brought joy and warmth to her own heart–making it so easy to understand my touching experience. 

Thank you, “mumi,” for being such a wonderful mother!