Amy Lu's View

Once again, I’m mining the 8th grade Values Journal.

This entry is a good old fashioned tear-jerker, and least for me. The assignment was to write a “Letter of Respect” and this is what I wrote to my now-deceased-for-20-years mother:

Dear Mom,

Although it might now always seem like it, I do respect you. Not just because you’re my mother, but for different reasons. One of the reasons I do respect you though is becuase you are my mother and I love you. I also respect you because you always have time for other people, even though you work and are busy. I respect you because you don’t let people push you around. You aren’t afraid to stick up for yourself and others. I know that I have someone that will stand behind me when I’m in trouble that will try to help me. I know that you love me and have always tried to do your best for me. I want you to know that I appreciate what you have done for me and that I love and respect you.

Well. Damn.

Obviously, I was a pretty lucky kid to know that I had my mom in my corner (Even though she would frequently say something like “I don’t know why people think I’m so tough/feisty when I’m so easy-going” when she was really tough as hell and scared everybody–in a really awesome way).

I can only hope that my mom had some inkling of how much I appreciated, respected, and loved her.

I really love that I gave my mom a shoutout for having time for other people. I’m impressed I clued in on this as a 13-year-old, and it’s something I want to emulate–even if it’s only making time to try and be concerned.

My mom was busy teaching second grade, going to the hair saloon to get her hair dyed, shopping (with a 45-minute drive time one way), making coffee for my grandpa, taking care of numerous free-range pets, attending endless numbers of my band and choir concerts and chaperoning “sock hops” (even though I never had a date), setting our bread centerpieces and exploding cans of Diet Coke, and bitching about where she lived and about and at my dad–but she always had time for people. Not just her family, friends, and students, but even strangers she ran into at Shop-Ko. (#SorryNotSorryLotsOfInsideJokesForMySister)