Dear Leslie,
I am so thrilled to be a
part of your life as you are expecting your first child. I remember
the month or two before you told me your news. I was in the temple
and putting some of our family on the temple role. I went to write
“Leslie and Jesse Thomas” and had an over-whelming feeling of love
and joy as the idea came into my mind that someone new was coming to be in your
family. I know this little boy is loved by Heavenly Father and so
many others. He is part of an amazing legacy of love, faith
and goodness. You have an amazing capacity to love. You
and Jesse will provide a wonderful home and family for him. What
a gift and blessing to any child.
You will soon realize
that he is blessing you and your life. Each of my children are such
gifts to me. Being a mom to each of you has made me who I
am. It has always amazed me that the calling of “motherhood” made me
a stronger, better, more Christ-like person. When I was told that your
chances of surviving a natural birth were about 5%, there was no
question in my mind that I would consent to a C-section. I was happy
and thrilled to give that to you. I hadn’t even met you yet. I
was so grateful there was a way to safely get you here. I was so
thrilled to hold you those first few days. It was a miracle to
me. Over the my lifetime, as I have had health problems from that
delivery, I have always had the thought, “Leslie is so worth this” “I
would do it again in a heartbeat”.
I love being your
mother. I loved watching you grow up. It was so fun to
see you and Kennedy grow together in a sister-hood. I didn’t really
enjoy being a girl when I grew up for different reasons. Watching
you two relish in it helped me find joy in our gender. Thank
you.
I loved watching you
discover the beauties of our world. I loved how you always wanted to
create beautiful and delicious things. I loved listening to you play
your favorite piano pieces over and over again, because I could hear that you
loved them. I loved listening to you sing and to hear you pleasure
in beautiful sounds. You were always touching plants and admiring
them. You brought more beauty and creativity into my life. Thank
you.
I love your gifts of
charity. You mothered me many times when you were growing up. You
often tried to comfort me and help me feel better. I remember you
rubbing my tummy when I was pregnant. You always tried to be helpful
and you brought a lot of love into our home. I saw you continue this
with your friends and associates as you grew older. You brought more
love and charity to my life. Thank you.
Well, Leslie, as I
reflect on the joys and wonders of motherhood, many thoughts and images come to
mind. Being a mother is and has been the greatest and most
satisfying thing I do in this life. I am so grateful for Grandma
Schwendiman who taught me so many things and gave me so many incredible experiences. Having
children, and being able to raise them, has been one of the greatest gifts in
my life. I look forward to a continued joy-filled relationship
with each of my children and their families. I look forward to
meeting and loving each new member that comes to our family.
I love you so much and
am so grateful for you. You and your family are always in my
thoughts and I pray for you often. Thanks for being my daughter and
bringing so much love and joy to my life.
Love,
Mom
Mom
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