WEIDO

 

Do you remember when you introduced me to the Rolling Stones in your blue truck? I do. Thank you for that. Thank you for showing me what rock and roll was! To this day, we don’t just listen to good shit; we talk about how the good shit makes us feel. You’ll never know how much our musical analysis means to me.

 CCR
Kool & The Gang
Skynyrd
Earth, Wind & Fire
Foreigner
Seger
Barry White
Cher
Fleetwood
The Allman Brothers
The list goes on and on…

 Your salt and pepper hair allures the young and the old. It is forever cool.

 I can only remember painting my nails once when I was younger; I was so incredibly frustrated because there was more bright green polish on my skin than on my nails. You heard my pitiful sobs and came to the rescue. With the two of us working on them, they had to be some kind of ugly. That didn’t matter because you helped me calm down.

 I can still smell the perm solution you put on my hair. I don’t remember if that was your decision or mine. Either way, let’s never do that again.

 I remember when it was possible for you to swing your leg above my head, what started that? Your aerobic sessions?

 Remember when I wouldn’t kneel in mass and you would get pissed?

 I had to have been thirteen when we were loading feed at CO-OP and I broke my bracelet. Without thinking, I said, “DAMN!” You looked at me and asked, “So, you gonna start talking like that now?”

 Do you remember when you caught me “sneaking in” the house wearing white eyeliner and a full face of make-up in the middle of the night? “I was checking the mail” seemed like a good response at the time.

 At one point, your number was saved in my flip phone as “OH SHIT”. I can’t describe the fear I felt when I saw that call at 3am.

 “JODI! Are you drunk?? Are you smokin’ that pot?? Get your ass home!”

 I’ll never forget you whipping my ass with a belt at sixteen because I wouldn’t give you my truck keys.

 I told you I was pregnant and all you could say was, “It’s a big responsibility.” Then you went outside to feed the cows. Thank you for quickly coming around and supporting your baby with a baby.

 I always loved it when I was almost asleep and I could hear your feet shuffling across the living room floor. 
You’d say, “Night peach.”

 I love how soft your skin is. You always smell good.

 I love how proud you get when you barbeque chicken or when you keep flowers alive.

 You’re the only person I know who can wake up before the sun, run eight miles, work a full day pouring your heart and soul into a class full of inmates, ride all three horses, feed, clean up the house and prep to do it all again the next day. You’re a fucking machine.

 Thank you for giving me an appreciation for horses and the beauty they carry inside and out. I will always think of you whenever I smell saddles and feed.

 Did I mention rock and roll? THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME ROCK AND ROLL. 

 Thank you for helping me buy my first home. I would not have been able to accomplish that without you. You are beyond smart.

 Thank you for being such a solid and invested JJ. Lane obsesses over you. 

 You’re the most generous woman on earth. You give your time, heart and soul. Don’t ever stop being Jacque; the world would feel it. I am so proud of your accomplishments and aspirations. Congratulations on the new job. You are unstoppable. You are so deserving. 

 Thank you for guiding me through life when I felt like I didn’t want to leave my bed. You have always been my number one fan. You have never stopped cheering. You have always empowered me. 

 As Sly & The Family Stone says…THANK YOU FOR LETTIN’ ME BE MYSELF.

 
Happy Mother’s Day.
 Love you Augustus. 


Always,
Woodrow