A letter to my boy

From the day you were born, you were always a sweet child, a sensitive boy with a heart of gold.

As I write this to you from the other side of the world, I gaze out my window with worry and the pain of not being there with you, and your brothers. An ocean apart while a global pandemic rages on...who would have thought that life would take us to this place in our lives.

You never really set goals for yourself or had a "master plan." You never thought of yourself as anything special, and it always hurt to think that you didn't see what the rest of the world saw.

When you took this job before I left to go abroad I was thrilled to know that you could take care of yourself and provide for yourself. It's every mothers' hope that her children will be okay in her absence.

I'm sure working for a supply and transport company wasn't the job of your dreams or your ideal career but, you are now more important to this world than you could ever have dreamed of.

I know you're not a doctor or nurse but, you make sure hospitals receive important cleaning supplies to keep going. You're not a fireman but, you still answer the call of duty, every day. You're not a postal carrier but, you get things delivered on time. You're not a politician but, you make sure the people in your city, your county and your state are taken care of.

My son, you're not a superhero like the police and EMT's and healthcare workers and scientists but...

Every morning you wake up and take your insulin with breakfast and pack your lunch full of carbs to keep yourself healthy enough for another "essential" day at work. All week you receive texts from me telling you not to touch gas pumps or key pads and wear a face mask to protect yourself. Your entire family worries about your "essential" body going to work every day knowing that as a diabetic you have to be even more careful with your immune system. Every day you take your "essential" self to work without complaint, put yourself at risk, get supplies where they need to go, support the infrastructure, and make us all proud.

You may not have had a master plan but, thank you for mastering this. You may not have thought much of yourself but, now you are a superhero. You may have been lost in life's journey but, thank you for being strong enough to keep going for others.

I'm thankful for the doctors and nurses, scientists and other essential workers in the world but, I'm thankful for you, my son, because you are just as important at this difficult time.

You will always be essential to me...now you are essential to the rest of the world.

Peace...