A Letter to My Hero and Shero

Dear Mom and Dad,

So many claim many different people as their hero. But I claim you as mine. And not because you have been wonderful parents to us your ten children, but you both survived Covid. Mama, you are eighty seven years old, go to dialysis three time a week and still you had the will and determination to fight off this dreaded virus that so many have succumbed to. When you were told that the vaccine was available, you rolled up your sleeve and took it without question because it was supposed lessen the severity of the virus. I suppose it worked for you. You had us afraid that you wouldn't make it but you did. You are my hero!

Dad, I felt very proud when I took you to your follow-up appointment to your doctor's office. His first remarks to you were, "Mr. Lewis, You are a very strong man. When I read the notification that you were in the hospital and that you had tested positive for the corona virus, I said to myself that I would never see you again. But Mr. Lewis, here you are. Mr. Lewis, people in their nineties do not survive Covid." Dad, you are ninety three and I and I'm sure my siblings would agree that you are indeed very strong and you're made of the stuff that every hero is made of. I only hope that we have the some of the same stuff in us.

You both are still recovering and seem to be doing well. And I'm almost certain that it was your faith that carried you through this part of your journey. You have not had an easy life and as I remember my part in being with you on this journey, the struggle was always very real. You have always climbed over every obstacle thrown in your path. Many challenges were hard but you faced them all. You both worked hard and never made much money but you put what you did have to good use. I can remember when I was a little girl, around seven that it was almost Christmas and money was very low. We couldn't afford a real tree so you went into the woods and cut down a small pine tree and brought it home. This lead me to start my own tradition and if I am to have a Christmas tree in my home, it has to be a real one. We felt like we had it all at Christmas when we had our bags of fruit, candy, nuts, raisins and whatever toys you could buy us.

I hope that I can be as strong as you both are in all the challenges that I must face and that I can also instill those same values and strengths into my own children. I am hoping that you both realize that the things that we must do now in caring for you is not a burden but an honor. Mom, we can hear you crying at night after we've had to attend to your needs after an accident but know that we hurt when you cry. This is no more than you did for us when we were babies and couldn't care for ourselves. We love you both and don't mind that the role of caregiver is reversed. Dad, I miss you singing the song that you wrote and I'm hoping that you will be well enough soon, so that you can sing again. I am mindful that for each of us the journey will one day end. But whatever is before us does not matter. You are both my hero! All my love.

You Daughter........

P.S. This letter could have been written by any and all of the ten of us.