More than just a Mother's Day card

Mothers Day this year was a low key day spent with family. No emotional breakdowns like last year. We spent a large chunk of time in the car (as we have been doing a lot of lately) which is peaceful as long as the weather cooperates which it did, even amidst the light snow (yes, snow on Mother’s Day!). I don’t mind the time in the car as it gives us time to talk as a family, read, enjoy the scenery and just be together.







The best gift this Mother’s Day were the cards I got from my husband and little girl. My husband has a way with words and I savor each heartfelt word he writes. I don’t put a lot of value on “stuff” but I have every card and note he’s ever made or bought for me. Same goes for my little girl. From the first cards that were picked out with a lot of help from dad (ok, he did it himself) to the cards that she picked out on her own and scribbled in with crayon (hoping the occasion on the card matched the occasion we were celebrating. She’s been known to pick out an “I miss you” card for a birthday because she liked the picture) to the most recent card that she wrote on herself. And I don’t mean wrote on as in scribbling pictures that I could not quite make out without an explanation for her. She wrote my name on the card. At just over three years old. I saved the envelope because each time I look at the scrawled out “mom” that is so carefully written on the front I just beam with pride. She’s known how to verbally spell my name for several months, but I did not know she knew how to write it until now. And although I was not there when she was writing on the card, I can imagine her concentration as she spelled out loud then wrote each letter, pen in hand, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, and endearing trait she got from her Daddy and I can feel that LOVE that I have for her, the love that just grows bigger and bigger all the time. The “mom” that is written on my card is such a symbol of the love my little girl has for learning. “Teach me to read, Mama.” “I want to know how to spell, Mama.” “Mom! I want to be able to write my own name but I need help!” And we’ve helped her with all these things. She is wise beyond her years and never fails to amaze her parents. I love being a mom to this little blessing and love to see her grow, another milestone achieved to remind me that she is such an amazing little girl and I am so proud to be her mom.









~Angela

Northshore Inline Marathon

For 13 years I have skated this race, followed by a weekend spent with my extended family who cheers me on at the same spot at the last curve of mile 26, just before the finish line. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a sucker for tradition, not willing to give up on the tradition even skated this a few years ago while I was 4 months pregnant. I've participated in this race with friends, strangers who later became friends and my husband. But really, I prefer to skate it alone.

This year, I did not have my my mom, grandma and aunt with me (which I really missed!) and I skated the race alone, taking advantage of the scenery along the north shore of Lake Superior. It was about a two hour break from reality, a break from my phone, from a schedule and time to just enjoy my skate. I don't listen to  music while I skate, I listen instead to the sounds around me...to the waves along the shore of Lake Superior, the wheels spinning on my skates and of those around me, the cowbells, the cheering, the wind in my helmet. It is a peace I rarely find in my day to day life.

Other highlights of the day included discovering a note from my husband and daughter wishing me luck, tucked into my skate only to be found just before the start of the race.




And seeing my daughter and husband (AKA my superfans) cheering me on along the way.



 I do love surprises such as these...

~Angela 

You've Got Mail!

My daughter loves getting cards in the mail. Who doesn’t love mail? Especially the unexpected card? I get excited and make a big deal out of it so it becomes a big deal. There is something about opening an envelope, not knowing what is inside- the suspense, the anticipation, lifting the flap on the envelope to open it… Can you tell I love the Hallmark commercials? This is also what spurred the idea for our Annual Christmas Card Contest.

My little girl loves her cards. She reads them over and over and knows who most of them came from. There is the Valentines card that accompanied a dancing sock monkey from our good friends. There are the teddy bear postcards from her Geegee and Papa. There is the homemade card from her cousin. There is the Elmo card she got from her Yaya, the cards from her birthday. She reads them all. She can pick out some of the letters and points to them. They are getting a bit tattered. These cards are loved.

I am not a saver. I don’t attach a value to stuff. As much as I value getting cards, I don’t save them all. I am constantly trying to simplify and organize. My first instinct was to file the cards my little girl has received away in her box of keepsakes to store. But she loves them so much, I couldn’t bear to do that. Why not enjoy them now? Feel the love behind the cards? Read them and be reminded of the people that cared enough to send them?

So that is exactly what we are doing. We enjoy them now. Over and over…
~Angela

The Handwritten Letters

Who doesn’t love mail? I’m talking about real mail- not the magazines and bills and advertising postcards, but a card, a package, an even more unexpected handwritten letter?! It is kind of a lost art. I have been writing to a dear friend of mine for the past fifteen years. I have written my last letter to her. Velma passed away a few weeks ago at 92. She was a neighbor who lived across the street from us when I was in middle school. Sadly, she lost her husband and both children years before I ever met her and lived alone. My mom would send me over with food for her (that sums up my mom; always taking care of others) and I would stay and visit with her- we would talk about books as we shared a passion for reading- and she would want to know all about the happenings of a teenager.

I called her and visited her only a handful of times after I moved away so our friendship blossomed more through the letters and photos we exchanged. Velma would send pictures of her flowers and her beloved cat, Reggie, photos of her in parades and at birthday parties. In the last few years I stopped getting letters from her as it was hard for her to write. But I kept sending them. Because I hoped they brightened her day, especially after she moved into a nursing home and had to give up her dear cat, who was more of a friend or companion to her than just a pet. I sent cards and photos of me traveling, running in races, my first home, photos of our wedding, my adventures with my husband and then most recently our daughter. All the while, I continued to write letters, filling her in on my life as a college student, a young homeowner, my adventures in dating, a new wife, a young mom. Separated in age by generations, our friendship grew as we learned from each other, mostly through the letters.

I recently got a letter from an employee at the nursing home that said “When we were going through Velma’s things, we found these letters you have sent over the last many years. I figured you did not get the notification that she had passed away.” I knew the news would come eventually, but still was not prepared for it. I stood there in my kitchen, stunned. In the last letter that she received from me, did I tell her how much I appreciate her? Did she know just how much this friendship has meant to me? I always make a point to tell people and more importantly show I value them, but did I do enough?

The book The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright comes to mind. This is heartwarming and emotional book that I recommend to men or women. (It would make a great anniversary gift).

I wish I would have saved the letters Velma sent to me. I would have cherished them as much as she cherished mine. It would also be interesting to read through the letters I sent her, recalling the highs and lows in my life over the span of our friendship. I am sure they were tossed out. The letters hold no value to anyone else. I will not be penning a letter to Velma any longer. This makes me sad, but I will take the time instead to write letters to the other people in my life that are special to me. I get so caught up in life that I rarely take the time to do so. That time is now.

~Angela