You Are Remarkable
Womxn in Student Affairs
February 25, 2015
If you think back to February 14th when you were a little girl chances are you can remember the excitement that came with picking out tiny cards and dropping them into paper bags at school for your classmates. Maybe, like me, you made sure there were enough strawberry Nerds set aside to tape to your best friends’ cards. There were no strings attached, it was just a simple, sweet gesture.
Why do we stop doing those things when we grow up? (And why do we stop having afternoon nap times and snacks brought to us at hangry hour 3pm?) Regardless of that last part – As adult women we don’t lift one another up often enough.
For this WISA Wednesday blog post I thought it fitting to share a love letter of sorts with you. I wrote this letter for my mom once upon a time on her birthday. As far as Valentine’s Day goes – You can love or leave the glittery hearts and chocolate, but I do challenge you to write a love letter of your own this month. Write one to yourself. Write one to your mom. Write one to a woman whose strength you admire.
This is my letter not only to my mom but to each of you this month. You are remarkable.
To My Mom on Your Birthday,
“God blessed my life as a woman with you” the political activist Milada Horakova wrote in a letter to her daughter Jana in 1950. This is the most uncomplicated yet profound way I have found to describe the love I feel for you. You deserve every day to know that you are a blessing.
You are bricks and might and foundation. You are wisdom and depth and truth. You are grace and beauty and reassurance. You are home. You are love. You deserve every day to know that you are exquisite.
You once shared with me that you marveled at my strength, wondering from whom I inherited it. My dear mother I grew up watching a woman who spent every day on her feet, someone who rarely sat down. I observed a woman who softened the suffering of others with stoicism and compassion. I witnessed a woman who sculpted hardships and rejection in her own life into immovable love and loyalty. Being an invention of this woman it should come as no surprise that I am strong. You deserve every day to know that you are a well from which strength flows.
When I look at myself in the mirror I see you. How fascinating it is to look at another human and intimately recognize each crevice, shadow, shade, and curve. You and I have been intricately built and layered to proudly exhibit our heritage, we share a journey. We are pages in a story of hundreds of years of women who came before us and who will come after. I find such comfort in knowing that when our pages shuffle into history yours and mine will remain side by side; one helps to make logic of the other. Isn’t that the truth of our lives? One of us without the other does not make much sense.
On your birthday I would be remiss not to tell you that your mark on the world is simply lovely mom. You are an incredible woman with whose life I am so fortunate to be intertwined. I pray that you wake up today and every day feeling gratitude for the orchestra of traits that make you beautiful. You are so very loved.
In Celebration of You,
Your Daughter
Courtney Reynolds is a student affairs professional working in residential life at Purdue University. She is a runner, blogger/vlogger, and lover of the little things in life. You can follow her on Twitter at @c_w_reynolds, on Wordpress at https://cwreynolds.wordpress.