Love Deine Mutti

Thank you for story. It made me feel things about my own ma. Good feelings. So thank you for that.

Moni -- what a beautiful testimony to your mother! Having known you since the 7th grade, I can see the bigger picture of your relationship with her, tumultuous and conflicted, but ultimately unique and personal. My mom and I too share that kind of bond. I am so glad you've come to appreciate her... and honey, you write BEAUTIFULLY! "Tausend gruesse..." Jennifer

Letter-writing is a lost art. I don't have a single person in my life who writes me letters regularly, or who I write to, for that matter. It sounds like Mrs. Peterson has given you many to cherish. My favorite is "I felt I had to read on with my eyes closed, it is written with so much empathy." Beautiful.

My mom always used to write me messages in my lunch box. Your article makes me wish I kept them.

I loved this glimpse of your mom -- what a gift to receive her letters and her gems of wisdom and how lucky we are to share her smarts! I'm taping "enjoy this day with your friends" to my mirror. My grandmother refuses to communicate by phone and she doesn't own or want a computer so she writes to me (and six or seven others) every two weeks. I usually get a rundown of who died this week, what each of her grandchildren and children are up to, and what she ate for dinner, but every so often she shares a little joke or something new from her childhood and I treasure these gems and my grandmother even more with every reading. I get such a rush of happiness when I see her white and blue envelope peeking between my bills and catalogs and I love that she always opens every letter with "Just a quick line to say hello" and then she writes on for 5 pages. I find I have started to open my letters with that same line. Enjoy this day with your mother!