Hope-

 

Daughters, 

I write to you both a lot from a place of brokenness in hopes of what I’ve been through to mean something and to be there when you need my words most. To know that you’re not alone. 

This is one of those letters; in order to say this: 

that hope might be one of the most important words to describe here. But without saying too much on my own, I just wanted to say that hope, what it is and means, has literally saved my life. Edith Eger says it better, 

“We never know what’s ahead. Hope isn’t the white paint we use to mask our suffering. It’s an investment in curiosity. A recognition that if we give up now, we’ll never get to see what happens next. 

There’s much I’ve gained and lost and almost lost. All of it has taught me how much I have, and how to celebrate each precious moment, without waiting for someone else’s permission or approval. I am reminded again and again: 

to choose hope is to choose life. 

Hope does not guarantee anything about what will happen in the future. But choosing hope affects what gets my attention every day.” 

Hope for me has looked like not giving up when my life seemed over. It sounds dramatic, but there was a time when holding on to hope became my only lifeline. Hope then looked like choosing to wake up each day to start, and now hope means something more when I need it. 

Choosing hope gave me a second chance at life. A chance with you two. You my loves can choose hope to see what gets your attention today and again if you ever find yourself in the same darkness as the younger me. 

And in the borrowed words of Edith, 

“Honey, don’t cover garlic with chocolate. It doesn’t taste good. Likewise, there’s no freedom in denying reality, or trying to cloak it in something sweet. Hope isn’t a distraction from darkness. It’s a confrontation with darkness.

To choose hope is to choose life,”  

Mom