Dear Ma:

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope Rick showed up and is making you laugh. There were a bunch of Dr Peppers at his going away party, so maybe he was able to sneak one in for you. I suspect heaven is one of those hoity toity sparkling water places. Although the Dr Peppers went pretty fast, so he might have just shown up with a moon pie. Texans on a hot day, you know.

Wow. The numbers are dwindling here. I don’t think I’ll ever get over Rick leaving. He was going to be the rock I tied myself onto when the storms hit. And now I find myself floating aimlessly into the abyss, clutching Mike’s ankle.

I can hear you now. Plan B! Go to Plan B! But you didn’t tell me what that is. Mandy is ailing and the cat’s on her 12th life. It’s just us and Mike and Laura and some Oreos, which are sitting way too close to me at work and don’t stand a chance of making it to Mother’s Day Proper. Sorry.

I miss you so much. I want to hear you say HO HO! in that funny way and prank me one more time for April Fool’s Day. I promise I’d fall for it. I want to show up unannounced to see the surprise on your face. I want to give you a little smooch on the forehead. Is that too much to ask?

The cement frog still lives next to the front door, a little reminder of your silliness. Mandy still says “I miss your mom” about 20 times a day. Me too.

For Rick’s party, they assembled a bunch of old photos. Remember the one of us at Six Flags over Texas? What the heck were you thinking when you dressed me in that costume? I suspect you never forgave me for not being a girl. But that’s OK.

And now our little family is littler still.

I hope you’re OK and you don’t mind that my hair got kinda long. If it’s any consolation, I yell at Mandy about wearing jeans with holes in them. People will think we can’t afford nice clothes, I tell her. Just so I can hear your voice echoing back from my childhood. I miss you so much. I might have said that already.

I hope the world survives the next year. If not, maybe I’ll see you soon. I’ll bring another Dr Pepper.

Anyhow, happy Mother’s Day. I love you. Thanks for being my mom.

love,
rbear