Lent Day 3: Dear Leo

 Dear Leo,

You don't know me but you probably know my type. I'm one of those aunties who will come up to you and squeeze your little foot, and talk in a high pitched voice telling you that I've known your mom since she was a little girl. I would probably also tell you that you're handsome like your dad and have the cutest little face. I would also be a clown to try to make you laugh. Lets be honest, I would probably be a bit awkward, like most aunties are, but that's because I know how loved you are and I want you to know how much I love you. Even if I'm just some random auntie. 

The thing is Leo, I've known your mom for almost all my life. We grew up together, farm girls from the mountains and we also went to high school together. And even though your mom is a completely sophisticated belter today I remember the days when she was so little that eating a peanut butter sandwich would result in most of the peanut butter ending up all over her cheeks. I also remember her mop of blond curls always framing her face. And I remember building forts in the forest with her and tubing down swollen brown rivers with her, and sleep overs, and the day when Shaun Dunn hit a hockey ball so hard that it almost maimed her.

This I also know about your mom - she's never gives up and she's very brave. You should have seen her on a horse. She was this tiny thing, riding a monster four times her size, flying over jumps as if they were nothing. And in cross country that little tyke could set the pace and never stop. And later on when everyone was starting their first career after university your mom was doggedly starting her second one, and in medicine, which is no flippen joke. I watched your mom bravely embarking on your bother Max's cranio journey, bravely overseeing the huge stress and complications of brain surgery on such a little boy. And I have watched her capture the essence of your late grandfather for Max, and now you. Making sure that you know who he was and how much he loved Max, and now you - because in heaven love never dies. 

And now I witness your mom facing what is undoubtably her hardest battle. The jumps she has to jump are huge, the race she has to run is grueling, the second challenge of motherhood even harder than the first. But I know that there is still the spirit of the farm girl in her. I know that she never gives up. And I know that her love for you is as powerful as the universe. And I know that if you have even a little bit of her in you you will be as mighty and courageous as your name suggests. 

And so Leo, this random auntie from the berg wants you to know that you are in the safest hands. And it is my prayer that one day I will get to see you try to eat a peanut butter sandwich with as much relish as your precious mom did when she was a little girl.