Happy Mother’s Day to Me: Dear Mommy

This guest post is by Katie Karambelas, a fiction writer earning her MFA and a single mom. She blogs about adventure, motherhood and dating in the 21st century at Writing & Wanderlust. In this Happy Mother’s Day to Me series, mothers are celebrating themselves for the dedicated, loving, tireless mamas they are. Check out all the posts in the series!

Dear Mommy,

I see you, Mommy. I see you trying not to cry because you are too distracted juggling work and school and you forget to flip my grilled cheese before it turns black. You scrape the burnt part into the sink and flip it over on my plate so I won’t notice.

I hear you, Mommy. I hear you tell me things that I need to hear. I hear you say “I love you” and “I’m so proud of you” and they mean so much to me. I hear the happiness in your voice when you say these things to me.

I see you, Mommy. I see you lifting weights at the gym, trying to get stronger on the outside, even when you don’t feel strong on the inside. I watch Mickey Mouse on my DVD player but I look up every few seconds and I see the sweat dripping, your hair falling out of the too-loose ponytail holder.

I hear you, Mommy. I hear the happiness in your voice when you talk to me about traveling, and I believe you when you tell me that we will go to Paris and I’ll get to see the Eiffel Tower like I’ve been asking since I was only two years old. 

I see you, Mommy. I see you reach for my hand as we cross a street, pick up my toy before I even know it was dropped, and cover my feet when they slip out of the covers at night. I see how delicate you are with me, scared I’ll break or that you’ll lose me.

I hear you, Mommy. I hear you yelling encouragements at me as I play soccer every Saturday morning. I hear you as you clap and laugh when I make a goal.

I believe you, Mommy. I believe you when you tell me everything will be okay when I’m scared, and that my dreams really will come true. I believe you because you have never lied to me unless you had to, and you always do what you can to make me happy and healthy. I believe you because you are the one person in this world who would give their life to save my own. I believe you because I love you. I believe you because you are strong and courageous. I believe you because you are my hero.

I believe you because you are my best friend.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy.

Love,

The boy whom you gave life

Katie is a fiction writer working on her MFA who writes about her not-so-fictitious life. While she hopes to become a YA novelist in the future, and has had her fiction published with numerous literary journals, she currently works full time at a pharma and blogs for herself, Huffington Post, and Elite Daily. She’s an army brat turned country girl living in Raleigh, NC with her rambunctious three- year-old son. She writes about her struggles and triumphs of being a single mom navigating through dating, finding time to travel, and writing about pretty much anything on her blog Writing & Wanderlust.