{"id":12093,"date":"2005-05-15T08:57:22","date_gmt":"2005-05-15T12:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12093"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:10:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:10:47","slug":"a-letter-to-mama-on-mothers-day-by-debbieb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12093","title":{"rendered":"A Letter to Mama on Mother’s Day (by DebbieB)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Joe puts his feelings on paper.<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/strong>\u00a0 G (1,600 words)<\/p>\n

A Letter to Mama on Mother’s Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joe reined in his horse and slid down from the saddle. As he made his way over to the massive headstone that marked the final resting place of his mother, he pulled from his pocket a lone slip of paper and began unfolding it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote you a letter, Mama,\u201d he said in a low but thick voice. \u201cI thought it might be easier to write down what I wanted to say to you than it would be if I just tried to put my feelings into word. I hope you don\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe sat down and folded his legs Indian fashion. He cleared his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this don\u2019t sound too silly to you, or worse, too mushy. Anyway\u2026here goes\u2026.\u201d
\nDear mama,<\/p>\n

This is your son, Little Joe\u2026well, Joseph now. That\u2019s what Pa and Adam and Hoss call me now\u2026so I guess you can too, being as how I\u2019m not a little boy anymore.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been out riding fence all day, that\u2019s how come I haven\u2019t been up to see you today, until now. I\u2019m sorry I\u2019m so late, but I couldn\u2019t let today go by without making a special trip to wish you Happy Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

It may seem foolish to you, me coming up to your grave like I do just to wish you Happy Mother\u2019s Day\u2026but I come on your birthday too, and Christmas, and New Years. Why, I even come on Thanksgiving and Valentine\u2019s Day, just to be sure you\u2019re wished the best, no matter what the season.<\/p>\n

Pa comes to and so does Adam and Hoss; but we come at different times, most of the time. I know they like to wish you well too, them having known you longer than I have, especially Pa. I know he misses you something awful, even after fifteen years. You were such a joy to him, you brought him such happiness and he loved you so much. He\u2019s always telling me how wonderful you were, how you loved Adam and Hoss as if they were your own sons and how you always made such a fuss over me.<\/p>\n

I wish I could remember you better, but it\u2019s hard what with you dying so suddenly and me being only a little boy. But Pa is always willing to share with me, the times that we had together. Adam and Hoss remember you well too, and sometimes when everyone is talking about you, I sort of feel left out\u2026like I wasn\u2019t a part of it all. I know they don\u2019t mean too and I try not to let my hurt show, but I think more times than not, Pa sees the pain in my eyes. I\u2019m not good at masking my feelings like brother Adam is. I\u2019m an open book, Pa says. I carry my feelings on my shoulders for the world to see. But he says he likes me that way because I remind him so much of you. He gets real choked up at times when he\u2019s talking about you and me and how much alike we are. I\u2019m glad though\u2026I mean, I like being like you; it makes me feel that much closer to you, like now, as I\u2019m sitting here next to you, reading this letter to you.<\/p>\n

I come up here to the lake a lot when I need time by myself, or when I\u2019m troubled about something, though when I\u2019m here with you, I don\u2019t really feel like I\u2019m by myself. I can feel your presence and I feel your love surround me like a shield and somehow I don\u2019t feel so bad anymore and the problems don\u2019t seem to be such mountains.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something about a mother\u2019s love. It\u2019s never ending Pa has said so on numerous occasions. No matter the distance between her and her children, there\u2019s no barrier to her affection. Not even death can bar Love\u2019s path to her children.<\/p>\n

Pa told me that a long time ago, after you died and I was crying one night. He came into my room and caught me\u2026golly I was embarrassed. I was about ten years old and Pa had caught me crying. I couldn\u2019t lie about why I was so sad, I just told him the truth. I explained how much I missed you and how I felt that you didn\u2019t love me anymore and that you had forgotten me. I guess I was feeling a little guilty because it was me that was having a hard time remembering you. I couldn\u2019t remember what you looked like, or the sound of your voice. That\u2019s when Pa gave me the little cameo picture of you that has always been beside my bed since that night. And he told me that it was alright that I couldn\u2019t remember what you looked like or the sound of your voice, because I always had your love to remind me that you were still close by. I\u2019ve never forgotten that, Mama\u2026and now, years later, it\u2019s even harder for me to remember your face and your voice, but I\u2019ve never forgotten your love. I can feel it now\u2026you\u2019re close by, I can tell.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much that I\u2019d like to share with you. But I know most of them will have to wait. I do want to say thanks Mama for giving me life. Thanks for the short time that you and I had together. I cherish all the stories that my family has shared about you and of our time together, be it too short. What visions I see and the expression of your love that I feel when standing here, I thank you. You are a terrific mother, and I\u2019ll cherish your love until the day I die and am reunited with you. And I have the picture to remind me of your smile and the happiness I see in your smile and joy that makes your eyes sparkle. The night that Pa gave me that little cameo was the best night of my life. I know he held it dear to his own heart, but he told me that he had the most wonderful memories of you locked in his heart and he said that he felt as though I needed the picture more than he did. I almost started crying all over again, but he said if he needed to see your lovely face, he\u2019d just make a quick trip to my room and take a peek at your picture. He a great father, and I want you to know, I\u2019m proud that you loved him enough to marry him and\u2026well\u2026enough to have his son\u2026I\u2019m proud to be that son too, just so you\u2019ll know!<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s getting late and I\u2019d best be getting home. I don\u2019t want Pa to worry\u2026he\u2019s does worry so much about us boys as he still refers to us three.<\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019ve had a good Mother\u2019s Day up there in Heaven, Mama. I suppose that God sets aside this special day for all the mothers; I figured He would, since Jesus\u2019 mama, Mary, is there with her son. Someday I\u2019ll be there with you and when that day comes, we\u2019ll have a great party and we can celebrate all the Mother Days that we\u2019ve missed down here. It will be a grand time and I look forward to being with you again.<\/p>\n

Until then, please know that I love you. Your passing set my world upside down for several years afterwards. But thanks to the great father that Pa has been and the terrific brothers I have, I have managed to work through my grief. That\u2019s not to say that I don\u2019t miss you because I do\u2026even now I miss you. But with God\u2019s promise that we will meet again carried in my heart, it gives me hope that we\u2019ll see each other one day.<\/p>\n

If you happen to see Elizabeth and Inger, tell them for me that Adam and Hoss are the best there is. They\u2019d be proud of their sons and so would you mama. I only hope you are proud of me\u2026Adam says I still have a long way to go being a man, Hoss will never think of me as anything but his baby brother\u2026and Pa says that I\u2019ll always be his little boy\u2026no matter how old I get!<\/p>\n

So, from your little boy, I wish you a Happy, Happy Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Love,
\nJoseph Francis Cartwright.
\nJoe sat for a moment longer before brushing his hands over his eyes. He then stood to his feet, folded the little note and tucked it away in his pocket. As he pulled his hat down over his head, he glanced around, taking in the beauty of the lake far below. When he glanced up, noting the billowing white clouds, he smiled.<\/p>\n

Turning, he looked down at the tombstone and tipped his fingers to his hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be seeing you again, Mama,\u201d he whispered. \u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The handsome young son of Marie Cartwright swung into the saddle and gently nudged his horse homeward. He didn\u2019t look back, but instead kept his eyes straight ahead. For a brief second he felt cheated, but then from behind him, he felt the warmth of his mother\u2019s love wash over him, comforting him, letting him know that she was there and more so, reminding him that not even death can conquer the power of a mother\u2019s love. He smiled, he was at peace and hoped that sons and daughters everywhere felt as he did at that exact moment, loved.<\/p>\n

THE END<\/p>\n

Mother\u2019s Day, 2005<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 Joe puts his feelings on paper.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 G (1,600 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9052,"featured_media":11514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-12093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","tag-joe","wpcat-23-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1090,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Joe-copy-7.jpg?fit=594%2C592&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5291,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5291","url_meta":{"origin":12093,"position":0},"title":"Kittens in the Hayloft (by Cinderella)","author":"Cinderella","date":"April 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Joe finds a litter of kittens who, unbeknownst to them, help him understand Marie's death. 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Five-year-old Little Joe wanders off to find his mama who died a couple of months earlier. 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