Dear Max, Maggie, Stela and Baby Boy,
Two weeks ago your aunt Darsha called me in tears. Something bad had happened. She didn't know what to do. She was scared and sad. I talked her through as best I could and told her to call her friend who lives a few houses away to come be with her. She did. And then they called another friend. It was so hard for me to be so far away at that moment. All I wanted to do was to be with her. I almost jumped in the car, but it is a 10 hour drive and didn't seem smart. So I looked up airline tickets. And I called your aunt Gwenna. She got in the car right away and headed to our house. I called Darsha to let her know that I told Gwenna. And that we were coming first thing in the morning. I thought she might tell me not to come, that she would be okay. But she didn't. She said okay. And then she told her friends, "It's my sisters. They are coming in the morning." It took me back to another time. When your aunt Joydell called me to tell me that she had a bad reaction to the new experimental chemo medication. And a team was coming the next day to talk to her about her options. I knew before she did that it was the palliative care team and they were coming to talk to her about stopping treatment. Again, I hated to be so far away. For so long she had told us she was okay and she didn't need us to come. I told her I would make some calls and I called Darsha and Gwenna to coordinate when we could come. I told her two of us would be there in 4 days and one would come the next week. When she replied, "That long?" I got on the computer and booked tickets and Gwenna and I flew out the next day.
My beautiful kids, I think the greatest gift I have given and will ever give any of you is each other. Family is everything. Darsha and Joydell both have/had lots of friends. They weren't alone. But at times like that what you really want and need is family. I pray that you will each be blessed with friends that are like family. You need those too. And they will be a great blessing in your life. But nothing really replaces family. And I pray that if or when one of you gets into a bad situation or has tragedy strike that your first call will be to one of the others. And that the other three of you will be on the next flight out to be there. If I can raise you to be friends, best friends, and to support each other, so your first phone call is to each other, and so when you get that call you want nothing more than to drop everything and be on the next flight out, then I will have succeeded as a mom. Because I will have given you the greatest gift you could possibly have.
I called my mom from Darsha's house and she thanked me for being there with her. It felt wrong to be thanked. It was where I wanted to be. My reply to my mom was, "I love family". I do. And I pray that the four of you will too.
I love you guys!!!!! Love each other.
Love,
Mama
Two weeks ago your aunt Darsha called me in tears. Something bad had happened. She didn't know what to do. She was scared and sad. I talked her through as best I could and told her to call her friend who lives a few houses away to come be with her. She did. And then they called another friend. It was so hard for me to be so far away at that moment. All I wanted to do was to be with her. I almost jumped in the car, but it is a 10 hour drive and didn't seem smart. So I looked up airline tickets. And I called your aunt Gwenna. She got in the car right away and headed to our house. I called Darsha to let her know that I told Gwenna. And that we were coming first thing in the morning. I thought she might tell me not to come, that she would be okay. But she didn't. She said okay. And then she told her friends, "It's my sisters. They are coming in the morning." It took me back to another time. When your aunt Joydell called me to tell me that she had a bad reaction to the new experimental chemo medication. And a team was coming the next day to talk to her about her options. I knew before she did that it was the palliative care team and they were coming to talk to her about stopping treatment. Again, I hated to be so far away. For so long she had told us she was okay and she didn't need us to come. I told her I would make some calls and I called Darsha and Gwenna to coordinate when we could come. I told her two of us would be there in 4 days and one would come the next week. When she replied, "That long?" I got on the computer and booked tickets and Gwenna and I flew out the next day.
My beautiful kids, I think the greatest gift I have given and will ever give any of you is each other. Family is everything. Darsha and Joydell both have/had lots of friends. They weren't alone. But at times like that what you really want and need is family. I pray that you will each be blessed with friends that are like family. You need those too. And they will be a great blessing in your life. But nothing really replaces family. And I pray that if or when one of you gets into a bad situation or has tragedy strike that your first call will be to one of the others. And that the other three of you will be on the next flight out to be there. If I can raise you to be friends, best friends, and to support each other, so your first phone call is to each other, and so when you get that call you want nothing more than to drop everything and be on the next flight out, then I will have succeeded as a mom. Because I will have given you the greatest gift you could possibly have.
I called my mom from Darsha's house and she thanked me for being there with her. It felt wrong to be thanked. It was where I wanted to be. My reply to my mom was, "I love family". I do. And I pray that the four of you will too.
I love you guys!!!!! Love each other.
Love,
Mama
