Willow Heart
“Nobody signed anything and there was never a day with speeches and a room of people. We just kept choosing it on ordinary mornings, year after year, with no audience.”
“We have not lived in the same house since those years and it changed nothing. The gaps between calls get longer every year and the calls pick up mid sentence.”
“Believe in yourself, and remember you only fail when you stop trying. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.”
“Your kindness at work is a gift that does not need any wrapping. You give it every shift, and it means more to people than you will ever know.”
“Nobody gave us a manual, and some nights we are making it up as we go. But every time I look over, you are doing it with more love than I knew existed.”
“You did most of it while nobody was watching and nobody was saying thanks. I was far too young to notice then. I have had years to work it out since.”
“You do not look a day older than the night I met you. I know you will say I am biased, and you would be completely right.”
“There is nothing left for you to prove to me and there never was. I was already proud a long while before you achieved a single thing on the list.”
“When we brought home our newest, I watched our oldest watching you. They were learning how to love a new baby from the best teacher there is.”
“On our first night home, neither of us slept, and I would not change a minute. Watching you watch our baby breathe was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“I looked for a bigger word than proud for this card, and I could not find one. So I will say it plainly. I am so proud of you I can hardly stand it.”
“I've given you roots of unconditional love and wings of confidence to chase your dreams. Stand tall even if you fall. You are capable of achieving anything your heart desires. Never forget how much you're loved.”
“I have watched you get ready for things since you were very small. School plays and exams and interviews and now this one, and you are entirely ready.”
“You have a speech in your pocket that you have rewritten eleven times. You are dreading it and you are going to stand up and do it because I asked.”
“Every year I open the ornament box and find the ones you made in school. They are a little crooked, and they still go right at the front.”
“The table was always too small and you always found room for one more. Nobody left your kitchen hungry and nobody left it feeling unwanted.”
“Some heroes wear capes. Mine wears scrubs and sensible shoes. You spend every shift taking care of people on their hardest days.”
“I was never any good at the talking part and your grandmother always covered for me. She is not doing it this time. She told me to write it down myself, so here it is.”
“My favorite part of the week is a slow Sunday morning with you. Coffee, the crossword and nowhere we have to be until noon.”
“I used to help with your homework, until it got too hard for me. That was years ago, and you have been leaving me behind ever since.”
“When you're too afraid to look ahead, look right beside you. I will always be there. Believe that you're capable of achieving anything. You will never lose, you either win or learn. Aim for the skies.”
“Your students probably sang to you today, and some of them were even in tune. I hope you felt how much you are loved, in that classroom and at home.”
“You promised to look after me before I was old enough to know what a promise was. And you have been standing just behind me ever since, quiet and entirely there.”
“We have had the same argument about the same thing for years. Neither of us has budged an inch and neither of us has ever actually left.”