Poetry | Gratitude | Mothers & Daughters
You Made Me Into Me
Prompt #1: a thank you note to a teacher — my mum
She’s known me all my life even before I was born She taught me how to say my name and how to draw a cat She showed me how to brew a pot of tea and bake a chocolate cake from scratch She guided me in how to crochet, sew, and knit and arrange flowers in a vase She taught me that women have the power to achieve the success of men She encouraged me to be career-minded and not to lose the faith that one day women will be respected and that we must do this for ourselves
My mum has been my lifelong teacher a woman I humbly and truly admire a feminist from way back although that’s a title she’d deny She’s from a line of strong womanhood and she’s passed it onto me my sister too — we are the same quite literally — we’re twins! — taught together by our mother not to stand in the other’s shadow but be ready for the call to be the friend the other needs when life pushes her to the wall
So thank you, Mum, for being the teacher you are to me Your lessons are the driving force that have made me into me. ❤️
© Carolyn Hastings 2021
For most of us, our parents are our first teachers. For some of us, our parents continue to be our teachers for a good part of our lives. To date, my mum has been my teacher for my entire life. She’s now 92 years old and still teaching me life lessons.
Sadly, one of those lessons has been the impact that prolonged periods of home isolation and inactivity have on old bones and jaded muscles. Staying safely locked away in her house for months on end may have saved her from Covid but it’s stolen her mobility, her independence, and her confidence.
Thankfully, it has not stolen her dignity, nor her compassion for others, and her interest in what is going on in the world. In fact, we find ourselves telling her to put her own needs ahead of those who are more able than she is to fend for themselves. The thing is, I can so identify with what she is doing because I know I would do the same.
Giving yourself permission to self-care can be a tough lesson that can literally take a lifetime to learn.
How to draw a cat
My mum would be the first to admit that she is not a naturally gifted drawer, but that never stopped her from teaching my sister and me how to draw using basic shapes to create simple line drawings of cats, houses, flowers, and trees. She’s still teaching those lessons — most recently, to her three-year-old great-grandson. Wesley was fascinated with these cats she drew for him. I’m so happy that we have this sample of Mum’s cat drawings to add to our family archives. I might also add here that my mum’s handwriting, even at 92 years of age, would put some of us younger ones to shame. 😉
Mum, I have much to be thankful for, starting with having you as my mother and teacher and continuing on to Trista Signe Ainsworth and her wonderful publication, Thank You Notes, which grants me a platform to share my gratitude to the world.
I set about writing my gratitude poem in response to Trista’s first prompt: thank you note to a teacher, but I’ve taken so long getting my act together (the arrival of two granddaughters in the past two weeks might have something to do with that!) that another prompt has come along — a thank you note to your mother in recognition of Mother’s Day on May 9. I’ve inadvertently responded to two prompts in one!
If you’re not familiar with Thank You Notes, please take the time to check it out. I can guarantee you will be glad you did. Here are a couple of links to get you started –
I’d like to take the opportunity to call on these wonderful writers to consider contributing to the publication — Thalia Dunn | Amy Jasek | Indubala Kachhawa | Kim McKinney | Carolyn Riker 😊
Thank you for reading. I am, as always, forever grateful. 🙏 💕