Finally, A Thank You to My Mom

Jessica Lampard

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Thank you for taking me on hikes in the forest, and for stopping at the lookouts along the trail even when I said that I wanted to keep moving. I secretly craved stillness. Because of you, I had time to notice the blue water, the height of the cliffs, the burnt-sunshine smell of wildflowers.

Thank you for treating me like I had an adult soul even when I was still being asked in restaurants to use booster seats. And for respecting my decision to decline all offers of booster seats.

Thank you for staying overnight as one of the chaperones during the Brownie’s camping trip. Thank you, also, for never telling anyone that you only did it because I would have been homesick without you.

Thank you for letting me into every room of the house even when I was a child and the carpets were white, and for allowing me to use the same nice dishes as our guests. For understanding the accidental shatter of a plate.

Thank you for teaching me it’s good to put butter on popcorn.

Thank you for helping me to make my Helen Keller costume, and my Georgia Peach costume, and for my Cinderella costume with the pink ribbon to wear in my hair.

Thank you for waiting in line overnight, sitting on an uncomfortable chair in the parking lot of Toys “R” Us, to get me a Furby for Christmas because you knew I wanted one of those toys more than I’d wanted anything. You sat with strangers in the cold just to make sure you snagged one before the store sold out.

Thank you for telling me the stuff you’ve done that’s colourful and offbeat, so I know I can share my own secrets with you. Sometimes I tell you and no one else because you’re the only listener I need.

Thank you for letting me know that it’s okay to be the only one who stays home and reads a book, and it’s okay to be the only one who goes a little wild and jumps too high in the dark on the trampoline.

Thank you for saying that you admire me.

Thank you for teaching me about edible flowers by plucking two from the grass for each of us to nibble. And for buckets full of blackberries we picked on the roadside, dreamy afternoons spent feeling simultaneously at home and free.

Thank you for passing on the love of power outages, blizzards, and thunderstorms. I’m most awake when nature touches the glass of my windows. I think I’m lucky to not feel afraid.

Thank you for believing that advertisements are not always right, and smiles don’t always mean happiness.

Thank you for turning on your music in the car. I still remember the some of the graceful, melancholy songs that played when you drove me to daycare, and how they made me discover a new depth to my emotions.

Thank you for lying to always tell me I was prettier, smarter, and nicer–and for being honest about most everything else.

Thank you for ignoring the advice you didn’t believe in, and for quietly knowing better.

Thank you for never telling me to quit a goal that makes me happy.

Finally, A Thank You to My Mom

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