I'm pleased to introduce, my mother.

This,

is my mother. And this,


is the family she’s now the matriarch of.

She’s known as mom, Grandma Letty, Coletty (when I can’t find her in the store so I yell it out – if you hear that, come looking for us!), mother, and Letty.

She’s always been the quintessential mother… pushing, pulling, encouraging, criticizing, supporting, holding us up, telling us when our heads are too big, keeping us laughing, reminding us it’s okay to cry, and ultimately, loving us, no matter what.

This,

is my mother.

I remember many things from my childhood but here are just a few.

She taught me about hair-care by pointing out my Medusa coif most mornings when I was in 80-'s perm phase in middle school.

She taught me science, when she told me I wasn’t sweet enough to melt in the rain & then explained that sugar, not people dissolve in water.

She taught me to demand respect, when my older brother thought he could hold her arms so he wouldn’t get smacked for a smart mouth and she instead gave him a shin bruising kick with penny loafers.

She taught me toughness, when the aforementioned brother then waited until she was barefoot to get a smart mouth again and she showed him it didn’t matter if she had penny loafers or not, if he was going to be smart-mouthed to his mother, he was going to regret it. She bruised his shin with a bare foot.

She taught me patience, when she ignored all the sibling rivalry in the house.

She taught me to relax and surrender to the love of an animal.


She taught me to cope with sadness, through the deaths of family members and how to be happy in life during stressful or trying times. She taught me how to handle it all with grace (or at least what I think looks like grace to the rest of the world.)

She taught me how to laugh at myself and she taught me to look at myself and want to be a better person.

She taught me to question everything and to listen to everyone.

She taught me to be a good person. That doesn’t mean I do it… but she did teach it.

She taught me how to love and she taught me to love God.

She taught me how to be a mother and I couldn’t have been blessed with a better teacher. I didn’t recognize life’s lessons when she taught me all this (and that she still teaches me) but I do recognize them now that I am a mother. We’ve become friends, as well as mother and daughter. I can not describe how happy that makes me.

For all of this, I am grateful. I love my mother and I want to take this moment to say,

"THANK YOU, MOM."

This,

is my mom; the woman who taught me to be the woman I am today.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Love,
Becky