Those crazy Barenaked Ladies are Canadian. Who knew.

Hi –

I used to want to submit you for those ‘I have the best Mom’ contests, because I always thought I had the best mom.  I still do. I mean I thought you were awesome, as did most people. You could have won I’m sure.  The thing that always kept me from doing it was I thought you wouldn’t want it. That you would think it was silly.

I always found it really interesting how on shows like Oprah, The Today Show, The View, Dateline, etc any of those talk shows / news magazine shows, they always highlighted mothers who went and did something life changing. The mother who saved her children from a burning building or the mother who gave her child a kidney. They never talk about the mom who doesn’t do anything remarkable in terms of one single event, but does something every day. The mom who gets up every morning, gets her family up, goes to work all day long, comes home and makes dinner, helps with homework, and then does it all again the next day. The mom who raised really great kids who became upstanding members of society. The mom who created the home that all the friends wanted to hang out at, because it was comfortable and safe. The mom who always made a special dish for her daughter’s best friend who was on some random eating kick. How come the shows never highlighted her? Because she existed; she wasn’t some unreachable entity; she was you.

In most of the things I read about death, the majority of the surviving family members sadness comes from having left things unsaid. I can honestly say I’m 100% positive that’s not the case with me. I’m positive you knew I thought you were amazing, and that if I was half the mom you were I would have been fine with that.  So I don’t feel like I left things unsaid.

I’m also pretty sure I’m not falling into the trap where the surviving people glorify the person who has passed away. Where you start to forget all the things that used to annoy you about the person or that you always hated. I don’t think I’m doing that either. I’m just doing.

I’ll have to run this by Dr. Lee tomorrow. I forgot to cancel my appointment with 24 hours notice so it looks like I’m going back.

Love you forever, miss you always.

Rachel