She said it once before, but I didn’t believe her. We sat at the kitchen table over a sleeve of Oreo’s and ice cold milk. Hers skim. Mine whole. I would be in a pair of sweats with my high school mascot name placed ever so nicely across my hinny, and she in would be in her oversized shirt and flannel bottoms. Or just slippers. 

We called them our “Midnight Lectures”. Or at least that was what I  dubbed them when I wrote about them for my college admissions essay. They asked us to write about a moment in our lives that impacted us and taught us something. Well for me, it was never just about one moment. It was about a string of them. A string of moments that just happened to fall around midnight. The house was quite. My sister asleep a floor away. It was our time to connect, catch up, and to foster my relationship with my mother.

Perpetual night owls to the core, and in between mushy bites of our milk soaked cookies, I always learned something I didn’t know before. Whether it was learning something about my mother, or life in general, I never left hungry or without greater wisdom.

She said there would be days like this. Days that would break me. Make me. And do it again.

She said there would be days where my dreams came true, and my job was to appreciate them and live in that moment.

She said I would fail, most likely a lot more than succeed. But that my success, it would far out weigh any failure.

She said I was capable of anything and with hard work and faith all is possible.

She said there would be times my faith and efforts would be tested and that my actions had consequences.

She said there would be days like this. That no matter how much I fail, how much Im tested, how over worked I am….that I would be happy. Loved. And successful.

And guess what, she was right.

Mama, you were right. I am happy. I am blessed. My faith is restored. I have much to be thankful for….and I am most thankful for you telling me there would be days like this.

I lift my glass of milk to you mama….and to any one else out there in need of a “midnight lecture”…there will be days like this…and in the end, you will be happy there were.

xoxo,

Kaitlin Noel