apology

Dear Mom,

As a kid, you always made sure our birthdays were special. I remember getting to ride shot-gun without argument, not having to do chores, choosing my favorite food to eat for dinner, having a massively cool decorated cake in any design I wanted, and getting to search for the "hidden" presents throughout the house to the lovely soundtrack of family members singing "Happy Birthday" in a variety of keys.

Yesterday, birthdays became different.

Instead of going along for the ride, I had to drive. Not having to do chores? Not even an option - the laundry and dishes just had to be done. I did get to choose what dinner I wanted, but I kind of do that every day now, so it's not that exciting anymore - plus I put too much sour cream in the potatoes. I don't know how to decorate cakes {YET}, so we made apple crisp instead which was absolutely amazing ... so that part was okay. And with only one member of the family knowing how to sing, let alone speak, the song "Happy Birthday" wasn't nearly as diversified as I'm used to.

What I'm trying to say Mom, is that I'm sorry for not realizing that you didn't get a day off in your life - even on your birthday! My appreciation for mothers just skyrocketed once again, and I wish I could go back and redo those birthdays of yours and make it a little easier on you. I wish I would have made you breakfast in bed, let you stay home from running errands, cooked for you, cleaned for you, babysat for you, and completed all of the endless projects for you. I'm sorry that as a kid I thought bringing home a hand-made card and lilac blossoms that I picked from our front yard was enough to make your day special.

Then again, maybe that is enough to make your day special - make you feel like the work is worth it. I am only beginning to understand that. But at the same time, all those other things would have been nice too! :)


I'm sorry that I never fully grasped it before, but thank you for being amazing and never quitting on us. I love you Mom.

Love,
Heather

{editorial note}: Just for clarification, my birthday was still amazing. Ryan had flowers delivered to our home, and he made certain that they were just loose in the box so that I could cut and arrange them how I wanted - ahhh ... the simple pleasures!! He also let me go to Home Depot and buy flowers to plant in front of our house ... which turned out to be a much bigger project then I expected (what's up with the presents we get requiring us to work? Oh well ... it was what I wanted! Manual labor included!). AND he also bought me tickets to go see the play "The Lion King" next Wednesday. I've heard amazingly good reviews about it and I cannot wait!

So even though I was still a mom and still had a dozen things on my 'to-do' list for the day, it was a great day! Thanks Ry for making it wonderful!