The Example

My mother has taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. She taught me how to love. A selfless, forgiving, strong, enduring love that is always there. And I do believe that has been my greatest gift to others. It's what has enabled me to have the beautiful relationship I have with my sisters. It's what enraptured my fiancé, and what's made adding a stepdaughter into my life such a breeze. That beautiful, wondrous, ability to love.

Growing up as the second of three daughters wasn’t always easy. My sisters naturally drifted together and I often felt like an outsider looking in. I remember so many afternoons where I cried in our bedroom when my sisters had gone off to do an activity together. My mother was always there, always. Sometimes with kind words, sometimes with nothing but silence, but she was present. How she showed and showered our home with love always made me feel warm, always made me feel included, always made me feel centred. And so I kept on loving, I kept loving my sisters and eventually we all became as thick as thieves. They are my best friends, my confidantes, my true north, my home. I never would have gotten through COVID and the ensuing lockdowns and closures without them. And I know, deep in my core, that our relationship, potentially, could have never developed.

You show me how much you love me in everything you do. From your eyes widening with happiness when I FaceTime you, to how you hold me extra long when I get to hug you. Every moment you’ve said you were proud of me, and the woman I’ve become, has skyrocketed me to the moon. And the time when you so casually told me that you and daddy had paid off my $25,000 student line of credit made me cry. The woman who had stopped crying after her youth filled with tears broke down in her workplace bathroom because you saw how much I was struggling and because you could lighten that monstrous burden from me. I’ve always been so grateful.

Your love and support has encouraged me in my journey of education. Especially in my Culinary Arts pursuits. Having your blessing to walk down that path was essential for me. And though it might seem inconsequential to someone looking in, your blessing was the key that unlocked that door.

You taught me that love is a decision. I believe in saints, but I’m definitely not one. I have faults, and the people we encounter in life do too. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone falls sometimes. But the type of grace that was exemplified for me always seems to offer a helping hand. Always seems to work with, instead of against. And to never stop trying.

Mama, you’ve shown me what true love is. The type of emotion that sees these faults, and forgives them. The quality that loves deep, hard, and fiercely. That you shouldn’t give it lightly, for love is precious.

So mama, I’ve touched on this many times, but I want to say it again. Thank you. Your quiet, steadfast example changed my world. You’ve shown me how to give of myself and it’s made me who I am today. So as I write this on Mother’s Day, after over a year of not touching your precious face, I want to take the time to say how much I cherish you. How much I’m grateful for your sacrifices, the large ones and the small ones. And all the ones in between. You’re my only mummy, and I adore you.