Willow Heart
“Our baby does not know it yet, but they got the best mother in the world. Someday they will understand how lucky they are, and I already do.”
“You never made a fuss about anything, and you never missed a single thing. The quiet ones see more, and you have been seeing me clearly my whole life.”
“A hand on my shoulder, a note on the counter, a cup of tea without asking. Your small kindnesses got me through a very big year.”
“Every winter you borrowed my scarf for your snowman and never gave it back. I never minded. He looked a lot better in it than I did.”
“When you were little, we sang in the car with the windows rolled down. Today I will hear those songs in my head as I watch you say I do.”
“Every year you picked the tallest tree on the lot, and it never once fit. I sawed off the top and never minded, because you were so happy.”
“I knew this was right the first time I saw how you two look at each other. It is how every dad hopes his daughter will be looked at one day.”
“Your ring has worn thin on one side from years of actual work. A jeweler offered to build it back up and you said no without asking me.”
“There are three whole generations between your hands and mine. And every one of them carries something you started long before I arrived.”
“You spend your days taking care of everyone else, often for twelve hours straight. Today is for you. Put your feet up and let somebody take care of you.”
“You have handed out a lot of grades, so here is one from me. Top marks for patience, kindness and believing in every kid in your class.”
“I did not arrive with any right to tell you anything, and I knew that. So I turned up to things and fixed what needed fixing and waited to be asked.”
“I forgot something that mattered to you, and that is not okay. You are the most important person in my life, and I should have shown it.”
“You held this family together through things I only know as stories. And you told them to me so that I would know exactly where I came from.”
“Your house was the one place I never had to knock. And you were the one person always pleased to see me walk in.”
“Everyone will ask what you are doing next, and you do not have to know yet. You have already shown me you can do hard things and do them well.”
“You were never particularly interested in whether I enjoyed the session itself. You cared whether I finished it, which turned out to be the useful question.”
“You take care of so many people that I sometimes wonder who takes care of you. So please eat a real meal, get some sleep, and let someone spoil you a little.”
“People say you have my eyes and my stubborn streak, and they are right. You also got things that skipped me entirely, and I am very glad of it.”
“When things felt like they were coming apart, you held it all together. I saw how much it cost you, and I will never take it for granted.”
“When things fell apart this year, you were the one who kept us steady. You did it with so much grace that most people never even noticed.”
“You laugh exactly like your mother did when she was young, which you know. What you do not know is that it stops me wherever I am standing, every time.”
“I was frightened and trying very hard not to let anybody in there see it. You talked to me about nothing in particular until the whole thing passed.”
“You have a house and a job and people who need you at home every single week. You gave me months of it anyway and never once mentioned what that cost you.”