An Extra Measure of Magic

When I was a little girl, I believed in fairies. 

I spent half my time imagining how fairies might look and live, roaming the forest behind our house in search of forgotten fairy garments, fashioning palaces out of Kleenex boxes and tree bark, and pretending to be a fairy myself, much to the amusement of our neighbors. 

One day, I started writing to the fairies. I left my letters folded in the cups of tulips or tucked beneath tree roots. Unbeknownst to me, my mother saw. And for the next year, she wrote back. 

In beautiful letters painstakingly crafted from scraps of purple paper, my mother wrote back as a fairy named Lilac who faced the same struggles as I did. Though hers was a world of glimmering wings and dresses spun from raindrops, she, too, dealt with timeouts from her elders, the occasional unkindness of friends and classmates, and many other matters dear to the heart of a little girl. 

One day, the fairies had to move away. I was growing up. The last letter came from the Fairy Queen herself, thanking me for being a friend to her subjects and all fairykind. She also reminded me of the important things I would need to keep practicing as I grew older: things like grace, kindness, and laughter. 

Though the letters came to end, the magic did not. My mother had given me the space to let my imagination flourish. She had given me the warmth of a friendship no less real for its mysteriousness. She was magical with that very particular kind of magic that lets children know they have been well and truly loved. 

This Mother's Day, there is no gift I can give my mother to equal the wonder and delight of my year as a friend of the fairies. I have watched her tackle painful life challenges far removed from the fantastical world she created for me. I have seen grace, kindness, and laughter keep my parents together, endure through long illness, and grow my sister and I into women who will face life with bravery and resilience. 

Even if you never wrote to the fairies, even if they never wrote back: May today meet you with an extra measure of magic.

Original context: Letter From the Editor, Florida newspaper with circulation 95,000.