Americana- Letters From Home

Today my wife and I were cleaning out some old boxes at out house that we plan to sell soon. As I was looking through these boxes for like the fifth time to see what we really need to keep or get rid of. I ran across a series of letters my mom wrote me when I was in college back in the 1980’s. My mom went on to be with the Lord in 2017 and I miss her dearly but know she is doing great and living a great spirit life with God and my dad whom passed away in 2009. Anyways, as I was looking in a box I found these letters that she wrote me every week. We did not have cell phones, internet, snap chat, texting, face time and all that fancy stuff college kids have now to instantly talk to their parents. I lived in Boone, NC in college which was about two hours from home and rarely got to come home especially during football season and in the summer because I was active with the team or working a job to make some college money.

I got hurt playing football my senior season and had a severe head injury that caused me to have migraines, loss of concentration and kind of shut me down on many days. During that time I was struggling with life, struggling with my health and struggling to keep my school work up. My dear mom would write me each day for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and mail it on Saturday morning. She would write down what she and dad did each day and it could be as simple as what they had for dinner, her washing clothes, how work went and about the puppy dogs. As I read her daily updates from 1986 I got to the part of the letter where she began to tell me to hang in there, stay strong and overcome the injury and my school concerns. We often need motivation in life and today I was inspired by a letter my mom wrote me back in 1986 that lifted me up then and did again today.

My mom loved to write letters, send cards, send notes and mail them. She loved to share her feelings, talk to people and take care of them. She knew that I was struggling and took the time to write me a personal letter every week to lift me up and communicate with me. We talked on the phone once a week and I came home about once every five or six weeks with an occasional visit from my parents coming to games or campus to visit.

I brought those letters home and will use them as part of my blogging to share my moms story. Share my moms love, patience, kindness, concern and care for fellow human beings. She was more than a mom. She was more than a cafeteria lady at school. She was more than a Sunday school teacher. She was more than a housewife. She was more than a community volunteer. She was a loving, warm and kind soul that prioritized everyone above her own needs and wants.

She was a motivator. She was inspirational. She was wonderful. She was beautiful. She was outstanding. She was a super mom, super person and I was blessed to have her in my life and she continues to check in on me from time to time from heaven. She actually saved my life more than once. Most recently she did it in September of 2020. Go read my story Miracle on Old Town Road and you will see how powerful and awesome she truly was. I am thankful for those letters from home and the impact it had on my life. My oldest daughter collects cards like my mom did and I think that is an awesome way to save her memory and honor her, service and faith.

Miss You mom!