A Letter to My Son

Dear TJ,

As your birthday approaches I can’t help but think back to the day the doctor told us that we were having a boy. It was one of the best days of our lives. We prayed for you. The day you were born was the day my body was pushed to the limit. I had never experienced such pain and victory in all of my 25 years of life but I knew the end result would be worth it. An 8 pound 4 ounce 21 and a half inch baby boy had entered the world with no help of pain meds. At that moment I knew I could conquer anything. I returned to work and school full time a few weeks later to continue my journey of receiving my master’s degree; you and your sister were my motivation. I won’t lie, it was hard but God blessed me with a husband that helped more than I could ever thank him for.

As I watch you grow into a young man I thank God for your kind heart, and sweet spirit. Not a school year goes by where I don’t hear from a teacher or school administrator about how caring you are for others; you’ve won awards for this. Never change son! Don’t let the evil and cruel people of this world make your heart cold. Continue to love people unconditionally. The sad reality to this is that they may not always love you back. My advice to you is to focus your energy on things and people that make you happy. Life is too short to worry about the small stuff, or to concern yourself with those who don’t know how to love and appreciate you for the wonderful person you are. One day your heart will get broken, just know that there is enough love around you to help heal your broken heart. Learn from it and remember that hurt so that you never have the heart to place that type of hurt on anyone else.

Your brilliant mind, determination and desire to learn new things will take you far. You get all of these traits from the wonderful men in your life; your father, grandfather, great-grandfather and uncles. You are the son of Kings. So always treat the women in your life like Queens. You are surrounded by examples of this every day. Learn to recognize a good woman from her actions not only her looks. You know mommy’s favorite song “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep” by the Temptations is true. Not everyone looks like they do on Instagram in person…don’t believe the lies LOL. You know what real Queens look like just take a look around you; your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunts, sister and cousins.

If you ever begin to doubt yourself, take a look at all you have accomplished in life and know that we are behind you every step of the way. There is nothing you cannot do! Don’t let ANYONE tell you that you cannot do something! When you look in the mirror I hope you see what I see when I look at you; a strong, intelligent, handsome, kind-hearted, determined KING who is ready to conquer the world and all that life throws your way! You hav

e no choice but to be successful, it’s in your genes.

I love you son! Continue to make me proud by being who you are, striving for greatness and living BLOUNT-ly…after all it is your name!

Love Always,

Mommy