To my Mother, on Mothers Day

 

Happy Mother's Day to you, Mother.  Although we haven't spoken to each other in several years, you are always with me.  I feel your presence every day.  I feel you in every fiber of my body, for you gave me life.

You have given me so much.  You gave me three wonderful brothers and a safe home.  You gave me a home that encouraged love, understanding and respect.  For that I am forever grateful.  You took me to Church, had me baptized, taught me to pray and continued to worship with me.  I still hang the Christmas stocking you made for me every Christmas.

 

Grandmother Eula and my Mother shopping in Portland, OR

Mother, thank you for teaching me manners, a lost art that I have passed on to my sons.  I still walk on the outside to protect my wife from getting splashed from passing cars.  Thank you for writing to me while I was in uniform.  If it wasn't for you and my father, I wouldn't have received any letters.  I will always feel bad for ruining your night of cards when I dropped the hatchet on my foot and cut off my toenail.  I think you got to the hospital faster than I did.

Thank you Mother for raising my three wonderful brothers.  You supported John through the really hard times, when no one understood his Cerebral Palsey.  You loved Dan through every wild hair he had.  You gave me my youngest brother, Phil, when I was only 15; and taught me how to take care of a baby.  A lesson I used when I had my own children.

You gave me my heritage and a membership in the First families of Tennessee. (and that's an inside joke that only you and I understand...who needs those old bitties in Virginia anyway)

I love you Mother, and I miss you.

 

Willamette NationalCemetery, Portland, Oregon

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