Robin J Phillips

Letter to my mother

Today I am beginning to mourn the loss of my mother. You see, it started with me seeing a picture of my mother than had been taken more than 12 years ago in New York City. She was so vibrant and connected in that picture on that day. She was writing a note to those who had lost loved ones in the 9-11 attacks. It was so important to her on that day that she write something.

But now she just writes notes to remind herself of things she might forget. She doesn’t look like this picture now. The Alzheimer’s is slowly but surely stripping that vibrancy and connection from her eyes, and I miss my mom. So, I decided I wanted to write a letter to my mother before it is too late, before she can no longer appreciate how much I love her.
And this got me to thinking that I bet there are a lot of people who owe a letter to their mothers. No, not an email, but a pen to paper letter. A note telling her how much you appreciate her, how much you love her. A note telling her how she makes you smile, how you loved when she baked peanut butter cookies and let you use the fork to put the grooves in the top of the cookie.
Tell her about how you loved it when she let you stay up late that first time to watch a special show on TV, or covered for you with your dad.
Tell her how you remember her on the ground cutting out a pattern and cloth on the floor so she could make you that homemade outfit that might actually fit! Tell her how much you learned about work ethic when you saw her laid out on the couch exhausted after spending the day working at the sewing factory to make sure you could have tennis shoes for your sporting team.
And after you write those letters I would love it if you would send them through the mail to your mom so you can surprise her… just because.
And then if you find it within yourself, I would love it if you could send a copy of the letter to me because I would love to collect them, and put them together into a special project. You can send them to Susan Green/ Letters to my Mother, P.O. box 13641, Phoenix, Az 85002.  Lets overwhelm the post office!

I love my mother, and I know there are plenty of you out there who love your mothers as well. Join me and share this gift with your mom. It only costs the price of a stamp, but I guarantee the look on her face when she gets it in the mail will be priceless!

Susan Green, Phoenix

After I wrote this blog post, KPHO our local CBS station interviewed me for a story on my Letter to My Mother project. Thanks, Miguel, for helping to spread the word:

http://KPHO.images.worldnow.com/interface/js/WNVideo.js?rnd=995932;hostDomain=www.kpho.com;playerWidth=630;playerHeight=385;isShowIcon=true;clipId=9581393;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=Video%2520Player;advertisingZone=;enableAds=true;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript;controlsType=fixedCBS 5 – KPHO

4 comments

  1. Oh, I love this idea!And how you've decided to celebrate your mom. You made me remember my own mom sewing clothes for me, clothes that I probably ended up complaining about.Thanks for refocusing me on what's really important.

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  3. Wow, Susan. What a great idea and what an amazing tribute to your own mother. I love my mother but all too often I take her for granted. I'll have to sit down with the pen and paper like you said, and think about what I want to say to my mother. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  4. What a wonderful blog! I love the letter writing.Five years ago my father died of Alzheimer's; my now-95 year old mother has advanced dementia, and every month I keep my promise and drive from Colorado to Kansas to visit her…even though she no longer recognizes me. Please visit my blog to see the responses of children and families all over the world experiencing Alzheimer's and dementia with their loved ones. “Things I Want To Tell My Mother”–Marylin Warner

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