Hey there! Today would have been a lovely day to celebrate you. I imagine this year I would’ve come to visit and we would have finally tried to get to Cafe Roma in Detroit like I always wanted to try to take you.

I thought about you a lot and had a good dose of memories heaped on me. I am remembering the way you would always make something very special for our birthdays, for instance, and am craving your chicken and dumplings recipe. I know you didn’t like how it turned out but it seems that we have some of your tamales here too. Cannot wait to dive into those soon.

The little things usually mean the most the more you think about them. For some reason today’s comfort comes from food and how much love you put into them every time you made something. Perhaps that’s what I immediately think of taking you out to dinner, to give you a break on your special day, and to have another adventure.

Love you tons, and talk to you soon.

Dear mom,

We heard a big loud crashing sound last night. We got really scared because we thought we were being burgled. Turns out it was just that big, green-and-magenta painting in the hallway that fell off one of its hooks, and swung against the wall. Really spooky sounding.

I told E about it and she said the cross that was on the bathroom door fell on the floor, and under the big metal shelf in the kitchen.

I assumed it was you trying to navigate our home. Door’s always open for you — you don’t have to knock everything over.

Hey mom.

I hope you don’t mind but we were cleaning some of your food out. Dad doesn’t like spices or things like pomegranate sauce, but I sure do. I recognize some of the foods you used to make in the freezer so I will take those home too.

I wish I would’ve learned your lentil recipe but I promise to experiment and make it again. If you are available it’d be great to have your guiding hand.