Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives #Family – Letters between a mother and daughter – by Miriam Hurdle

Miriam Hurdle shares two post in one with a letter that she wrote to her daughter and then she shares a very special post where Mercy shares the words that she associates with her mother, and the strengths she has inherited from her.

A Love Letter by Miriam Hurdle

Dear Mercy,

I’m so proud to have you as my daughter. You gave meaning to my life! For over ten years when you were young, I overlooked my disappointments and emotional turmoil. All I could see was your beautiful smile. It gave me strength to move my feet, one step at a time.

You delighted me with your intelligence and made your learning fun. You were like a sponge, soaked in every new learning as fast as it came. I described you as book gobbler as you read books after books in such a fast pace. You were placed in GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program at third grade. You had great confidence in yourself thanks to your second grade teacher Mrs. Uken. You told me she wrote “You can do it!” on the chalkboard and left it on. When we learned new things together, I said, “I can’t do it!” You said, “Mom, you can do it if you believe you can!” I had to agree with you.

You were so kind and generous with your friends. When you had friends coming for “sleep over,” you sent them off the next day with a bunch of your toys.

I was sad when you were taken away from me and moved to Oregon, 750 miles from my home. We were isolated from each other for five long years. I couldn’t call you because all the phone numbers were disconnected. The only contact I had was an email address. You couldn’t write to me because your emails were monitored by your dad. I only visited you once when you were sixteen years old. It was during the time you took driving lessons. You practiced driving with my rental car when I was there. Part of your practice was driving on the freeway and you had a log to keep track of the activities. I was so nervous and gripped both side of the seat but pretended to be calm. There was a big truck moving slow in front of us and you wanted to maintain the speed so you passed over the truck. The truck driver was pissed off, sped up and passed over you. I was relieved when we exited the freeway.

The day we were reunited after you turned eighteen, was the most joyous day in my life. I visited you when you roomed with several housemates. I wanted to be with you so much, even just sitting in the living room while you did your college work or did things with your friends. I was content with being in each other’s life.

It touched my heart seeing you grew into a kind, sensitive, considerate, helpful, tenderhearted, and compassionate young lady.

In the years followed, I enjoyed our hour-long conversation on the phone. I appreciated your trust and shared your feelings, concerns, and everyday life with me. You were not a little girl anymore. I shared my experience, my suggestions, but always encouraged you to make your own choices. My saying to you was always, “Don’t rush, listen and follow your heart!” In that, I believed that God would speak to your heart and helped you make right choices.

On one visit, we went to a shop to do ceramic painting together. I had so much fun doing it like we took ceramic painting class when you were young. You enjoyed playing board games, so did I. We were compatible also, so we always made time for games during my visits to you.

I was thankful for your desire to serve the community and found a job that allowed you to help people in need. You could have worked for big financial firms and made good money. but your heart was, and is, with people. I’m so proud of you.

It was God’s guidance in your life and brought a loving husband to you and got married in May 2011, I’m grateful for that. You both have a desire to learn and to grow as a couple. Most of all, you want to learn to be a sensitive spouse to each other and let your love and bonding grow. You also want to grow individually by spending separate time with the gal and guy friends. Your journey may have ups and downs but it is beautiful.

It’s a privilege to have both you and Will in our life. I thank God to keep us as a loving family. I always look forward to spending time with you both, either have you come to visit, or going to visit you. We’ll see you next month.

I love you so very much!

Mom

p.s. during our visit in March 2017, Mercy and Will shared with us that they were expecting their first baby.

Here is post that demonstrates the love that Mercy has for her mother….with words that she feels represents the person she is and what she feels she has inherited from her.

November 22 is my birthday. Some years, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day. This year, it was the day before Thanksgiving. My daughter Mercy, her husband Will, and baby Autumn came on Sunday, November 19 and stayed until the day after Thanksgiving.

On my birthday, we went to the mall to do window shopping. We then had some photos taken in front of the only Christmas tree. Santa was there for kids’ visit and photos. We were going to have photos taken with different decorations, but it seemed like the decorations were down to minimal. Perhaps I hadn’t been to the mall during Christmas for many years and didn’t realize the shrinkage.

We had dinner at a restaurant. Mercy gave me a booklet for my birthday present. It entitled “I Love You, Mom. And Here’s Why!” Each page has a prompt for her to share her thoughts with me. When we got home, I couldn’t wait but read through the twenty-one pages. My eyes were filled with tears from the first line of Mercy’s writing, and the smile mixed with tears for the remaining pages.

Here are two examples of the pages.

I love you very much Mercy….

©Miriam Hurdle 2017

About Miriam Hurdle

Miriam Hurdle is a multi-genre writer. She writes poetry, flash fiction, and short stories. Her poems are included in Letters to Gaia, Whispers and Echoes Issue 2, Whispers and Echoes Issue 3, and Outcast and More Words.

Music has rooted in her life. Being a soloist as a teenager led her to taking voice lessons and to have ongoing singing engagements. She continues to sing soprano in choral groups. Lyrics have a major influence in the natural flow of her melodic writing. She writes memoir in the form of poetry.

Along with her brother, she took photos when the films were black and white. Photography is still her enjoyable hobby. Drawing and painting were fun activities as a child. Her favorite was to draw a Japanese girl with big eyes, long hair, small lips and chin. She resumed drawing and watercolor painting several years ago. In her poetry collection, photos and paintings are included to illustrate the poems.

She earned a Doctorate of Education from the University of La Verne in California. After two years of rehabilitation counseling, fifteen years of public school teaching and ten years in school district administration, she retired and enjoys life with her husband in southern California.

About  Songs of Heartstrings

Human being has the willpower to travel through an exhausting journey, win a tough battle, and heal a deep wound. Strength from hope keeps us going until the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight and striving until the storm is over.

This poetic memoir comprises themes ranging from the suffering through an undesirable relationship, surviving an aggressive cancer, to the happiness in true love, the joy of parenthood, and gratefulness toward the Maker. Hurdle reveals the honest self-talk and reflects a heart filled with optimism, faith and trust. She illustrates the poems with her beautiful photos and paintings.

One of the recent reviews

D.L. Finn 5.0 out of 5 stars All the poems were heartfelt and lyrical March 21, 2019

This is a collection of poems, photographs, and drawings that tell stories from Ms. Hurdle’s life. They include sitting in nature, giving birth, death, illness, and loss. Faith and being a survivor are strong themes throughout “Songs of Heartstring.” My favorite part was when the poetry connected to nature, but all the poems were heartfelt and lyrical. The tribute to the author’s parents was touching, along with the loss of a friend. The glimpse into dealing with cancer was inspiring. Although this was a quick read, it’s full of depth and can be enjoyed more than once. This is a book that poetry lovers will enjoy.

Read the reviews and buy the collection: https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Heartstrings-Poems-Gratitude-Beatitude-ebook/dp/B07K1S47W9

And on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Songs-Heartstrings-Poems-Gratitude-Beatitude-ebook/dp/B07K1S47W9

Read reviews and follow Miriam on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17252131.Miriam_Hurdle

Connect to Miriam

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Miriam-Hurdle/e/B07K2MCSVW
Website and blog: https://theshowersofblessings.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miriam.hurdle.1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhurdle112

Thank you very much for dropping in today and I know that Miriam would love your feedback. Thanks Sally.