Hey Mom,

It’s that time of year again where all of the department stores are coming together to rally behind another holiday: mother’s day. From bookstores to mattress stores, all of them think that you want some superficial gift, something that anyone can buy. Whenever I listen to these ads on the radio, I cringe a little. Have these people really forgotten what the point of Mother’s Day is?

I remember when I was little and couldn’t buy anything outside of a gumball, I would make you something. Even though my art skills were pretty lacking, I tried my hardest and made the best macaroni heart that I could. Every year I tried to make something different and every year you loved it all the same.

This year I decided to change it up a bit and write you a letter.

Mom, we have had our differences. At times, it seemed like the world was falling apart and neither of us were there to catch the other. You have suffered a lot from the cards that were dealt to you. When I was younger, I never really understood that mothers could be wrong or mothers could get hurt. I thought they were invincible. Now that I am older, I realize that mothers are not free from the pains of the world.

Even so, you managed to survive it all.

You survived nights of tears and regrets. You survived countless moments of sorrow.

Now I can say without a doubt that you are my role model.

You are the one I look up to when I need advice. You are the one I think of when life is hard. I think to myself: what would my mom do in this situation?

Mom, you are one of the strongest people I know. You lived through heartache and my mistakes and I am truly sorry for that. Now I hope we can look back on the past and learn from our experiences. I want us to laugh about the good times and reflect on the bad. We can look back at the past, but for now we can keep moving forward. We can move on to a bigger and brighter future. There will be days that you can’t help but bring back the past, but instead of crying, I want you to smile.

Smile because the past is over. Smile because the future is ahead of us. Smile because all of that pain is behind you.

I love you, Mom. I know I probably don’t say it enough and there are days where it seems like I hate the world. But I want to assure you, I love you so much.

I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!