Dear Mother, you’re in a better place. May God be with you.
I don’t know much about my mother. But I know she had Down Syndrome. I found out from my case worker when I was nine years old. She weighed probably 60 pounds. She couldn’t keep my brother and me, so we had to go to different foster homes.
She visited me just once in foster care. I was nine and I was happy to see her. She brought another with her, and I showed that child love like she was a sister. She was eight. She and my mother stayed for maybe 30 minutes. The foster mother told my mother to visit again. My mother said she would try.
I wondered why she said “try”. She left the foster home. Later that day she was hit and killed by a Safeway truck. Now I know why she said “try”. I was too young to understand it then, but I think she must have known it was the last time I would see her.
So happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You were a sweet lady. Yes, you had someone taking care of you because you were sick. But you were my mother.
