I know leaving Dad wasn't easy. You were a stay-at-home mom with a 7-year-old and a 12-year-old. Dad made plenty of money, so you didn't have to work, but you had come to the realization that money doesn't buy happiness. Our two-story home suddenly became a two-bedroom apartment, but you never showed fear. As long as you, my sister, and I were together, we had everything.
You knew that however you reacted to a situation was exactly how we would react, so you made sure everything was a fun time, even if it wasn't supposed to be. We may have been receiving food from our church, but that didn't stop you from making sure I had the best 8th birthday party you could put together. When we had a tornado warning, we huddled in the bathtub and you did shadow puppets on the wall with a flashlight so that we wouldn't be scared. We put together entertainment centers, scared away mice and spiders, and figured out that cooking on a charcoal grill wasn't so hard after all. You taught me that women can be independent, even doing things that society has said the man is supposed to do.
You were there on field trips, for sleepovers, and for school performances. Even though I'm a college student now, you still come to anything I do at the university, and I still look for you, waving in the audience. Even though I wasn't the cheerleader you had hoped for, you learned how to navigate the world of having a tomboy at the ball fields every weekend, holding your own among all the dip-spitting dads. You conditioned my softball glove and hand-washed my uniform when our washer didn't work. You showed me that even when you think things are falling apart, there's always good to be found and look forward to. You made sure my sister and I never went without.
As a child, you made going through a nasty divorce seem like a walk in the park. As an adult now, I look back and wonder how badly you must have been hurting. How did you keep it together? When our family fell apart, you made sure that you and your daughters only got closer. You are now my best friend, my keeper of all secrets, and my true hero. You are who I first want to tell when I receive good news. Even as new trials have come and gone in our lives, we have remained resilient and untouchable.
As marriage and grand-babies start to enter our lives in the future, I know that you will remain my core. I see you in my face every day that I look into the mirror, and I am so grateful for our bond. I can only hope and pray that I can instill half the strength in my children as you have instilled in me.
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My mommy you'll be."
- Robert Munsch
