Letter from my Mom to her bratty 17 year old daughter

We have been getting ready to put our house on the market for a few weeks now and in the process, have cleaned out a ton of stuff from the basement. An unfinished basement is where all the crap and plenty of memories are stored. And in our case, laundry is done down there too.

For years both my mom and Glenn’s mom have tried to send us home with random things saved from when we were kids that they they no longer wanted to store, that we didn’t want to store either, but nobody wanted to throw out. Things like old teddy bears, legos (that Marshall now plays with), lot’s of pictures, art work from when we were kids and you know that sort of thing- we all have that stuff stored somewhere.

While I was trying to decide what to throw out and what to keep the other day (every 5 years you need to re-asesss right?) I found a note from my mom to me when I was 17- which was 12 years ago.

Our mom was always our biggest supporter, but she was never an enabler or one of those moms who thought their kid was always right or their kid was perfect. She didn’t “worship” her kids. She was never one of those moms that got in on the gossip or involved in any unnecessary hoopla. She just did her thing, we did ours and she supported us.

When I read this note I teared up and was reminded of how lucky I’ve been to have this kind of support my whole life. While my mom is not perfect and neither am I, I sincerely hope I will instill these kinds of words in the lives of my kids as they grow up. And if you are wondering, YES, this note is about running, in a way…. apparently I was upset about an incident that happened with my cross country coach. I will be the first to admit I was pretty bratty in high school. 

In case you can’t read the note, it says this:

Lindsey,

I am sorry that you are having a bad day. I’m not sure if I understand what started it. You tell me that coach was mad because you were late, but I don’t see how that could be the reason for the whole day being bad. It is important that you show respect for coach whether or not you agree with her. She is not doing this job because it pays well- rather because she loves the sport and cares about you kids.

An apology for being late would help to make both of you feel better, although I doubt if she has spent as much time worrying about it as you have.

As far as you not running on varsity, or running at all right now. It is very important that you support the team as a while as well as individually. When you run 2 weeks from now, you will be knocking one of those girls off variety. You do have the ability, mentally and you need to prepare physically.

I will do what ever neccessary to help you do your best- buy new shoes, go to practice with you, buy special food, whatever. I will not, however cater to a poor me attitude. You are a smart and talented young lady (17!) and I am proud of you, not for your abilities but for the person you are. Do your best in everything and you will succeed.

Love,

Mom

Let me just add, my mom is the furthest thing from sappy or being super emotional. She doesn’t get sad much (that she shows us as least), she doesn’t really say “I love you”, she is tough and very independent. I mentioned in my post a while back about the BRCA gene, that when she has a situation on her hands, she educates and tackles. No pity parties, do what you gotta do.

My sister, Ericka wrote a special post for our my mom a few years ago on Mother’s Day (read here), she speaks much more eloquently than I have energy for right now but beyond the simple note I found in my basement, I’m thankful for the strength, determination and the giving mentality our mom has instilled in us.

I wasn’t intentionally trying to make this a love fest to my mom, but when I found the letter, I had to share!

This is where I was going to add a picture of bratty me from HS but, I packed them all away. I’ll find some good ones once we have to move all the crap again. 

Instead, I’ll leave you with a picture of my mom, Marshall and I at the start of Glenn’s Ironman in September 2012. She was injured and hobbled around ALL day. If you’ve ever been the cheerleader at an Ironman, it’s a LOT of work haha. When we told her he signed up for an Ironman, it was no question she would be there supporting him (and me with my 10 wk old) and that was really special to me.

What is the best quality your mom instilled in you?