Letter to My Mom by Franki Rank

 

Hey mom. 

 

We should hug more. 

 

“Personally I don’t think you can hug your mother enough in life.”

 

I was thinking about that the other day. I don’t want to tell my kids one day that I didn’t hug my mother enough. So from now on, can we hug every time we see each other? 

 

Personally I don’t think you can hug your mother enough in life.

 

I wrote a Facebook post about you a while back. I thought you would like to see it. It goes like this:

 

Things I wished I had listened to when my mother said them:

1. Practice your piano, you are going to wish you can play one day.

2. Not everyone likes a smart mouth Francois.

3. You should go to church more, that’s where you will meet a nice girl.

4. Stop eating so many sweets. One day your metabolism is going to slow down and you are going to get fat.

5. Stop teasing children about the shape of their heads. Your head will end up in a funny shape when you are older.

 

It’s funny how when you grow up the things that irritated you the most about your parents end up being the things you miss most. If you asked me at 14 how I would describe our interactions I would have said: “My mother just nags me.” Today? “My mother really cares about me and what is happening in my life.”

 

“I miss you being my compass.”

 

I miss you being my compass. Setting me on the right path and helping me to make the right decisions. I know I still don’t listen as much as you want me to, but I hear you mom, I promise. So don’t worry, when I am going through something difficult in my life, I hear you mom.

 

“Francois,” you say. “Are you sure you want this? Just remember that if you do this you might end up setting yourself up for heartache in the future.”

 

I can’t tell you how many times hearing that has spared me in life.

 

Hey mom… remind me to hug you the next time I see you.

 

I love you.

 

Francois

 

PS. You were right about the shape of my head.

 

♦

More about Franki Rank

Franki Rank is based in Johannesburg, South Africa where he heads up the Written Content department of Fleishman Hillard. He is currently working on a book, which I would most definitely buy. You can follow him on Twitter for more of his musing, wisdom and insights.

 

♦

For more letters from around the world click on one of the links below:

a letter about abuse

two letters to two mothers

a letter about glass ceilings

a letter to a young mom

a letter about taking things for granted

a letter from the unexpected dad