Dear Mom,
You wake up every morning and get right to work with making breakfast and cleaning up the mess I so dearly make for you every night. You may occasionally complain, and ask for help, not so much because you need it but more so because you want me to learn, learn to be independent, just like you.
You juggle so many roles all at once. You have to be a mother, a teacher, a single woman, a working woman, and a friend. But more importantly, you have to be a father too. And you do all this so effortlessly, or so you make it seem. I complain about a million things. But in reality, you work so hard to make it all as easy as possible for me that you gave me no real reason to complain.
You don’t cry. It’s not because you’re not upset. You are. But you won’t show it. As much as you want to be a friend to me, you realize that you have a more important role to fulfill. You are a parent, MY parent. You are the one person that I can rely on at all times. You know this and want me to remember that I can always count on you.
Every time I shout at you, scream and lash out all my adolescent hormones at you, you take it. You would like to shout too. But you hold back because you know that I don’t fully understand why I’m angry myself. You understand it all. You always do. And you trust me to understand it all for myself too.
You have had to fend off all kinds of societal stigma all by yourself. You found it hard to make friends and fit in with other women your age because you knew in your heart that you were different from them, that things would never change. But you fought it all while being a darling to me, not giving up the slightest hint of pain or struggle.
Ma, all I really want is for you to be happy. Not the kind of happy where you’re smiling at me while trying to figure out how to get through the month’s expenses. Not the kind of happy where you kiss me when I win the dance competition. But, the kind of happy where you’re happy for you. You’ve been selfless all your life. Now, it’s time for you to be selfish. Be selfish for you. Be despicably happy for YOU.
Sincerely,
The Luckiest Kid Ever
