Dear Mom,
Ten months ago we said goodbye to each other. Well, I said ‘See ya later’…
I didn’t tell you this then, but I cried like a baby as I drove off to the airport to catch my flight.
I’d love to tell you that it seems like forever…but it doesn’t.
It seems like yesterday.
For you, though?
Well, it probably seems like a lifetime…or two.
I don’t have kids – at least any that you know of [just kidding by the way] – so I can’t really imagine what it’s like to watch your child leave [though saying goodbye to the kids in Thailand has to be close to the feeling].
If I had to guess though, I’d say it’s probably one of the hardest things you’ve ever had to do.
You could’ve said no, you know?
I still would’ve left, but you could’ve told me that it wasn’t safe and that it wasn’t the right thing to do. You could’ve said you didn’t feel comfortable with what I was doing.
A lot of mom’s would.
Heck, I know a lot of mom’s who did say those things.
But you let me go.
You knew that I had to spread my wings ever further than I have in the past and fly to the great unknown of this crazy world.
You knew that I had to grow.
I can’t thank you enough.
I want you to know that every month I’ve been away that I’ve been taken care of.
While it’s true that none of the women I’ve met on the Race can come close to replacing you, they’ve shown the most genuine love ever by doing all of the things I’ve missed by not having you around. Their love, encouragement, tears and laughs have reminded me so much of you every step of the way.
So as much as this letter is to you, it’s also to them.
Without each and every single one of them, I wouldn’t be typing this right now. I wouldn’t be typing it at all.
There have been times on this journey that I’ve wanted to come home. I’ve wanted to quit. I’ve wanted to leave it all behind and come home.
There have been times when I had scrapes and cuts, bumps and bruises, colds and flus. I wanted you here to make it better. I wanted you to tell me everything was alright and to keep going.
But you couldn’t.
So they did.
Time after time, they were all there to tell me things are okay [even if they couldn’t speak English]. They were there to do mom-like things such as my laundry and cook the best food I’ve ever eaten. They were there to pray over me and to wish me a goodnight before I went to sleep. They were there to make me laugh and show me what I pray my future wife [and the only girl who will take your place] is going to be like. They were my friend, my advocate, and my biggest fan. They loved me with the same love you shower me with.
Most importantly though?
They were there with me because God knew what I needed the most…
…you.
I love you to the moon and back.
Your son.
Like I wrote above, I can’t thank the women I’ve met on this journey enough.
So to Stacy, Vanessa, Rozy, Hope, Katie, Melissa, Anna, Virgilla, Ma Nim, Josaphine, Auntie Kim, Srey Pov, Momma G, Proud Mary, Margaret, and Auntie and anybody else I missed that's been like a mom to me…I love you and thank you for loving me to the tips of your fingers. You all are the BEST.
