June 25, 2004
Dearest Vailia,
I wanted to send you a little something. Bruce sold quite a few cars this last month and I thought this might come in handy considering all you are dealing with.
I just wanted to say a couple of things to you without getting too maudlin. I know we say these things to each other on a regular basis but I also felt it was important to put this down on paper.
First of all, although our first few years were a little rocky, I think we have had the most wonderful in-law relationship I have ever seen. I tell so many people about you and how energetic and positive you are. One of my all time favorite memories is during one of your visits to the Pittsburg house. You were up on a ladder in our bedroom, wallpapering. It must have been about 3:00AM and you turned around to find me laying on the floor in utter exhaustion. I think you said something like, “Oh, you look tired. Maybe we should quit for the night.” I tell people about this all the time with great love and affection in my heart. My confidence in decorating and creating wonderful things is very much inspired by your example. Someone asks you to do something and you just say yes and figure out a way to get it done later. In many ways, you have carried on the work of my dear Aunt Marie who passed away when I was 15. She was so creative and interested in all things domestic. She was the one who gardened and embroidered and cooked and baked and went antiquing, not to mention her full time job as a nurse. It is that spark that carries me through every day and you rekindled that spark and have become such a vital part of my life.
Secondly, Bruce is such a wonderful, bright, talented, loyal, loving man. While there are always things we look back on with our children and wish we had done better, he has turned out to be such an inspiration as well as an endearing and just plain fun life partner. To watch him grown and change and become the man he is today has been my pleasure. You started him on that road and he would not be the person he is without the strength of such a wonderful mother. Knowing that you accomplished this as a single parent with all the challenges and obstacles that life threw in your path is a wonderful example of what can be done in spite of the odds.
Last (for now), you are such an important part of my life. Not only did my own father’s spirit come to you to ask your help in getting me through the rest of my life but on such a personal level, you have been the mother and friend that Lolita could never be. She was wonderful in so many ways but she had her limitations and God sent you to me to fill in those gaps. “It takes a village to raise a child” is such an apt statement. I would not be the woman I am today without your constant guidance and subtle influence. Much like your son, I always knew you were there for me. I could always share my little triumphs with you and know you would understand and appreciate what I have done. I also knew I could come to you in times of trouble and rely on your strength and love. What a gift.
I just wanted to put in words a little bit of what you mean to me. I love you from the bottom of my heart!
Love,
Debby
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