compiled by Jane Robinson
Not long ago I sent an e-mail to the CTA staff asking for copies of letters they’d written to their moms and dads or that they’d received from their children. The response to my request surprised me—not the flood of electronic messages I had at first expected, but rather a steady trickle of slightly hesitant moms came to stand at my office door.
They’d peek around the corner, checking to see if I had a few minutes to talk. Then they’d hold out a note, most times, one they had evidently treasured for years or even decades. Most took time to explain the occasion on which the note had come. Some pointed out details in the art. Every mom had tears in her eyes and a sweet smile of love and remembrance on her face.
These conversations convinced me that mothers are always mothers. Even if the children who wrote the notes are now teens or even adults, grown and in their own homes for decades, they—like their letters—are as beloved by their moms now as when they were toddlers.
As for the letters, I think that you, like I myself did, will find them filled with thankfulness, trust, the certainty of acceptance, and lots of love. Enjoy reading them for yourself. (They’re arranged by the age of the author.)
Dear Mother,
I’m glad God gave you to me. Thank you for helping me and Taking care of me. And for let-ing me sleep in your bed. And for loveing me. And for for-giving me.
Love, Matthew (1st grade)
Dear Mom,
I would be happy to help you work with the plants. May God Bless You! I think you are super because you taught me about Jesus when I was little.
Your son, Ben (2nd grade)
If my room was like this you would still Love me.
And I Love you.
Merry Christmas!
You do not have to do the dishes 5 times
Unsigned
Top Ten Ways I Love U!
- You help me with my home work.
- You remind me to clean my room.
- You tell me to practice my flute.
- You tell me where to put the ornaments on the tree.
- You remind me to change the catlitter on the phone.
- You tell me not to watch a lot of T.V.
- You tell me to clean the house neatly.
- You tell me to go outside and pick-up sticks.
- You tell me to read a book if I’m bored.
- Because you’re my mom.
Happy Birthday Mom
Love, Madeline (6th grade)
Mommers
I cannot express the way I feel about you, mommers. You’ve done everything for me like changing diapers when I was little to taking me to school. Thanks for taking the job of being my parent. I also want to thank you for the times when I’m sick and you stayed up long hours then went to teach the next morning, and fixing dinner when you came home. I love you mommers. Thank you for my clothes and for everything I own, thank you mommers. You’ve loved me in time of my need and in the [time] of your need. Most of all mommers, thanks for being Mommers. You love me when I come home with a “D” and an “A” so I love ya right back, and thanks for giving me all those sodas after school and most importantly thanks for loving me.
Thanks for Everything . . . .
Happy Mommers Day
Love,
The Ratroy
PS. The 3 dollars under your pillow is the $ from McDonalds.
We [heart] you a trillion Merb chocolates,
We [heart] you the stars in the sky.
We [heart] you the sun & the moon.
We [heart] you the fish in the sea.
We [heart] you the birds in the air.
We [heart] you Ruth & Naomi.
You do everything for us, more than we could ever hope or wish for. We [heart] and appreciate you!
Love your daughters,
Allison (age 16) & Justine (age 15)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Mom,
I wanted you to know that I think you did a great job raising us kids. I don’t think you could have humanly done a better job. Even if there were never any issues and no arguments and no short comings and no disappointments, you still could not have done a finer job as a mother and role model. I have heard that parents sometimes question whether they did a good job as a parent and I wanted to make sure that you knew that:
- I respect you fully totally and completely as a person, mother and Christian.
- I understand (or try to) the sacrifices you made to raise us. You always put us first and made sure we had what we needed to succeed whether or not we always did was not because you did not try to prepare us.
- I appreciate the sacrifices you made. You destroyed yourself to give us the life you felt we needed. I am not sure that we would have been able to do that in your place. Most people could not, and don’t.
- I accept you for who you are and take great pride in the fact that you are MY MOM.
- I take great pride in who you are and what you do (not your job but the important stuff).
- I respect your character and morals and think you did a good job teaching us the basics (but of course it’s not up to you what we do with that knowledge).
- I respect your skills (again not job related but life skills the ones that matter)
I could probably go on and on but I will stop here and we can talk about it later.
Chris
Dear Mom,
Even though you are gone, I think of you often—especially on Mother’s Day. You have always been an inspiration to me and you still are.
Love,
Your Daughter
I think we can agree with the children above. Mothers are a gift from God. Christian mothers, especially, picture for their children the love of God himself. They are vehicles through which our Lord tells children the story of his Son, our Savior. This Mother’s Day, thank our dear Lord for the way he’s blessed so many children through their mothers.
