I have been home sick with the flu for three days now. Really sick, so dizzy I can barely stand and coughing and headachy when I move around too much. Which is why it's taken me three days to get to this box.
It's a box of cards Mom sent me when I was away at college. I sorted through the trunk they were in 2 years ago, before her cancer came back, and forgot all about them. But all the thoughtful cards that have come in the mail, day after day (thank you friends!), reminded me that I had these. I remembered exactly where they were, and why I had decided to keep them.
It's a box of cards Mom sent me when I was away at college. I sorted through the trunk they were in 2 years ago, before her cancer came back, and forgot all about them. But all the thoughtful cards that have come in the mail, day after day (thank you friends!), reminded me that I had these. I remembered exactly where they were, and why I had decided to keep them.I went a long way off for college on purpose, to try something new and make a fresh start. I struggled with depression and anxiety all through high school, and while my parents tried to get me help, I don't think they ever really understood the extent of my depression. So I had very little desire to move a few miles down the road to Athens with most of my graduating class and be reminded of my academic and social failures.
Now I can better imagine the terror of sending your child off to a strange city. And I suspect my mom was really worried about how well I would
cope. But she encouraged me and gave me my space and always let me know, on the phone or in writing, how much she loved me and believed in me. I keep these cards for so many reasons - her words, her handwriting - but right now what I need them for is to remember the person who believed in me even though I created many of my own problems. The person who had a front row seat to my biggest flaws and never failed to cheer me on.
