A Poem For Mom

Mommy & Me

This is a poem I wrote for my mom and read at her surprise 50th birthday party:

For My Mom

So maybe when the pregnancy test came back positive you said “oh shit”
But if I was a mistake, you never showed it

You read to me in your belly
So I learned to love the art in verbs
And by the time I was a teenager you wish I didn’t have such a way with words
You filled the house with Earth, Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan
And I learned that music was a Sweet Thing
That you could change mood, space, and time with a couple instruments and a soulful song to sing

Every question I had, you found a way to answer it
So if at 14 I thought I knew everything, at least I knew a little bit
Long after the questions would make most parents tell their kids to shut up
You taught me things to open my mind up
Discussing history, our ancestry,
and that it really didn’t matter what people thought of me
You gave me books so I knew there was a world outside of my neighborhood
And if I wanted to live there, I certainly could

Watching you sketch until you fell asleep, I learned that dreams are not a waste of time
Even when we had to sleep together, I could look to your drawings for a room that was all mine

I had friends whose parents told them what they should be
And felt disappointed when they failed miserably
But you never put your dreams on me
When I said I wanted to be a bus driver you were cool with that
I never even knew you wanted me to choose and HBCU until I was 3 years down another path

You armed me with information to make my own decisions
So I learned early how to think independently and be confident in my convictions
So thank you mom, for allowing me to be me
Whoever that person would end up to be
For allowing me to express myself without saying “because I said so”
Because now as an adult I’m not afraid to challenge the status quo

I never saw you ask a man for anything
And I learned I could depend on myself
It’s the little things that make you happy
So I learned happiness wasn’t about wealth
Even if you sleep 3 to a bed, you can have a good laugh, a good book, a good movie

You can appreciate the moments
Playing monopoly with grandma, making up songs at Christmas, and finding a reason to laugh every day

You are the least selfish person I’ve ever met
And although I don’t think I have quite learned that one yet
Give me time, this year I’m exactly half your age
And I’m sure I’ll keep learning from you for the rest of my days

You give everything you’ve got, more than others think you should
When you meet someone, you past the bad and look for the good
Well, it’s payback time
For what you’ve done for me, Matthew, Kelly, Meredith, Shay, Sonny, and every stray dog and cat you’ve picked up in your lifetime
You’re going on a trip that won’t cost you a dime
So pack yourself a passport, a bathing suit, and a smile
Cuz you deserve a break
And 50 years is a long time to stay inside these United States

So this poem is a thank you mom,
For the Barbie dreamhouse
For taking us to Disneyland to meet Mickey Mouse
For making miracles and finding a way to send me to Paris at 17
For not forcing me to keep my room clean
For not killing me when I ordered TLC videos from “The Box”
And for taking care of me when I had the chicken pox
For letting me wear your purses to school in 5th grade
For every sacrifice in my name that you ever made
Thank you

And if you should ever feel you made a mistake
Brush your shoulders off
Cuz sometimes mistakes turn out ok
And if you should feel proud of me
Then pat yourself on the back, cuz you make me that way