Letter to mom

Written by Kimberly Hall

Dear Mama,

Words can’t express how I miss you. Four years later and I still want to pick up the phone to call you. I'm so thankful to have a video of our last Christmas together, and I still watch it every now and then. I know, I know . . . you are in my heart and I can talk to you anytime I want to, but I miss your physical presence. To see your smile and to hear your voice keeps me close to you. 

Mama, thank you for raising me to be a strong, responsible, caring, resourceful woman. As a young girl, I thought you were strict. As a college student, I thought you were old-fashioned. As a young mother and wife, I thought I was savvier than you and that I could chart my own course for my family. It wasn’t until my late thirties that I started to understand your strength, wisdom, and mental fortitude. I am so happy that I was able to give you flowers here on Earth. 

As I sit and read the cards you sent me over the years, I smile. There is one birthday card that came with three pre-printed photos on the front. You cut out three photos of your own and placed them on the front, covering the pre-printed ones. One picture shows you holding me on your lap when I was only a few weeks old. You look so young, innocent and beautiful in this picture, and looking at it reminds me that I will forever be your baby girl. To see these photos and your handwriting absolutely melts my heart.  

Your passing rocked me to my core. Losing you and dad in the same year reminded me, yet again, that tomorrow is not promised to us. It weighed heavily on me to know that I could leave this earth tomorrow with dreams still unfulfilled. I then decided to truly step out in faith and start the greeting card business that I was passionate about. I don’t have all of my next steps planned out. In the past, that would have freaked me out, but I often hear your voice reminding me who I am: the daughter of Vivian Young Tucker. Everything you’ve poured into me through the years, though I didn’t know it, grew me into a woman who is strong and determined. I may bend from time to time—but trust me, I won’t break. 

Love always,

Your daughter