[May 12, 2024] Like so many children nationwide, Mother’s Day is a special time for her children to show their appreciation. My sister, brother, and I might have been young, not yet reaching the tender age of ten, but we knew our duty to cook Mom a spectacular, delicious, perfectly prepared breakfast, with cold orange juice and hot coffee with sugar, and served with flowers, and in bed. And it had to be a surprise. We were wise enough to know that Dad would not help us because that is not what dads do. It was up to us kids. That Sunday, May 14th, 1961, was the Mother’s Day breakfast to remember. And the best Mother’s Day ever.
It all began after waking up early with the birds chirping and the sun shining. I was up first, having to run to the bathroom. I’d used an old Indian trick that my Dad had taught me. He said the way the Indians made sure they were up early to go hunting was to drink a lot of water right before going to bed. Well, it worked! Show time.
My brother Philip and I slept in the same room with Terri in the bedroom next door. We were so excited. I could see it on Terri’s face. She couldn’t hold in her excitement and was squealing with glee. There was, of course, no plan to make Mom her special breakfast. Individually, we just started getting stuff from the refrigerator; pots and pans were under the sink; the coffee was there, too. Hot coffee was a unique challenge. We had not prepared it before, so I filled it up to the filter level; it seemed right.
If I remember correctly, being older, I did most of the intelligent work. Experience, none of us had any to speak of. Terri had seen Mom prepare meals, so we asked her questions about how to break open eggs, how to cook bacon, the right temperature, and how long. I’m not sure Philip and I paid attention to her answers; we, too, were over-excited. Cooking breakfast, all seemed so simple in concept.
It turned out that the biscuits were the most difficult of all. Flour and milk mixed to a sticky consistency then flattened with Mom’s roller and cut out with a small drinking glass. Following my young sister’s direction, we threw flour all over so the dough didn’t stick. And we weren’t sure how long they would be in the oven. Eventually, the biscuits were done. They were a little undercooked, but better not to be burnt. See how smart we were.
At some point, we were ready for the breakfast presentation. I sent Terri to peek in on Mom to make sure she was still sleeping; she was. After lining up at the door, we knocked on the bedroom door. “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom,” we yelled. She was surprised, and the meal was “absolutely delicious.” Mom had eaten nothing better. She told us so, and moms never lie. I knew it would be.
Of course, the coffee was undrinkable and cold and would wake the devil. The eggs were cold and hard. The biscuits were raw. The bacon burnt. The orange juice we forgot. Philip had to run back into the kitchen for a fork, knife, and napkin. And the flowers were yellow blossoming dandelions from the yard. But this was the best Mother’s Day ever at the Satterfield house.
We also hand-made Mother’s Day cards. I learned how to do that in the third grade. Our teachers were pretty darn smart. They knew this day was coming, so they assigned us the task of making the cards in class. They knew we didn’t have the foresight to make them at home. I’m sure most of the cards made in class were simple, but the focused attention and love we put into them was all that mattered. Mine was ready. All I had to do was show Philip and Terri. Finding the paper at home was hard, but we had crayons, and I was good at staying within the lines and making the colors stand out. Happy Mother’s Day from your kids. Mom had a big smile on her face. Dad faked being asleep.
Then we dashed to play outside. Did we forget to clean up the kitchen? Yep. We never gave it a second thought. Mom was happy; we kids were happy. We delivered a “delicious” Mother’s Day breakfast. What could have possibly gone wrong?
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NOTE: See all my letters here: https://www.theleadermaker.com/granddaughter-letters/
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👀👀👀👀👀👀 Very good 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
Another wonderful letter and a pair of letters today, so for that thanks to Gen. Satterfield. It is always good to see that another “Letter to My Granddaughter” is published. These letters have become a bit of a new way of looking at how our family and young life as a kid has an impact of import upon us as older adults. I’m taken by the fact that Gen. Satterfield has taken the time and remembered all these events in his childhood, a childhood from the 1950s and 60s – a time when many of us would this is boring and unimportant. But not so. Gen. S. has raised our awareness of those times.
New to this website and stumbled across this letter and am enamored with what I see. Well done!
Welcome aboard Jane, I hope that you enjoy each article I write.
This series is amazing, and now I will add that it is lovely too. This ode to mothers by Gen. Satterfield is a quick but fun read. For those new to this channel, please also take a look at Gen. Satterfield’s books, especially “55 Rules for a Good Life.” He talks about honoring our parents and that is an echo of the Bible verses on this same subject. As these letters let us look back into time when the little boy (now Gen. Satterfield) struggled to be good, and often was not, we can see his growth mentally and morally. That can be difficult or impossible if you have parents or one parent who is a criminal, a narcissist, or one who is just super lazy. That is why we need two-parent families and our communities must support them. The past few years, all we’ve seen is our country working against women and mothers. Let us pray that changes soon.
Well said, and welcome to Gen. Satterfield’s leadership forum.
I’m late to the comments, but HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY to all those women who deserve it. Am I going to be cancelled by the radical leftists? Just asking for a friend. 👀👀👀👀👀
Love this letter and all the letters. To all the real mothers out there, are there any other kind, Happy Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. In the United States, Mother’s Day 2024 falls on Sunday, May 12. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. This is from the History Channel.
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day
We also know that celebration of Mothers and Motherhood goes way back to ancient Greece and the Romans. There were festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele.
Early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday” also happened. Its association with mothering originates in the texts read during the Mass in the Middle Ages, appearing in the lectionary in sources as old as the Murbach lectionary from the 8th century.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY………… we are all wishing for all those mothers to have a wonderful, relaxing, and happy day. Even if the story of today is full of your kids burning the bacon, undercooking the eggs, and spilling the cold coffee. 👩👩👧👧😘💗
WOW, another letter to Gen. S’s granddaughter. And now we are up to 71 letters and counting. Let us hope for many more.
Yep, I second that. Nice emoji.
Great article again, Gen. Satterfield. Thank you for recognizing mothers!
Thank you, Gen. Satterfield for making my day. So many women who have children and for whatever reason, their children do not call them on mother’s day is atrocious behavior. Let us celebrate real motherhood, and not the fake trans women’s motherhood day. That stupid ideology will soon burn out because it is not morally or physically capable of withstanding reality. Happy Mother’s Day to all those mothers who act as mothers.
Well said, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!!!
Got that right, I send my best wishes to those women who are not just mothers but also good mothers, those who chose to keep their babies and raise them to be good citizens, protective and loyal to their families. That is what family is all about (as we all know from Gen. Satterfield’s articles). Thank you, sir!
Great stories once, again. Letter to his granddaughter No. 71. POWERFUL.
Gen. Satterfield has done it again by publishing this letter. He harks back to the “old days” when he was in the third grade and remembered his mother on Mother’s Day. Such a wonderful and loving story to be told. I’m sure those that came every year after this one, were just as joyful. Let’s hope that his Mother had a more tasteful meal later. And we can certainly pray for all our mothers. 🙏
Like so many of these wonderful, beautiful, fabulous articles, this one on Mother’s Day is one of the best. I always go to read these letters and look forward to each.
Yes, that is for sure. There is little that I don’t like but each is full of those stories from Gen. Satterfield’s childhood, and hopefully in his young adulthood, that everyone can relate to. That is why, well, these stories are why he has been so successful. His experiences, and him using those experiences to test himself is a lot of why he became a US army General. Well done, sir, and please, like so many have requested, keep them coming. 😊
😍 Great comments so far and no surprise, this being one of the very best letters to Gen. S’s granddaughter. 😍
It is always a pleasure to read this blog. And thanks to all those who post here too, for your words also help me be a better person.
Nothing like a great story from a little boy trying to treat his mother properly and with his siblings on Mother’s Day, and long ago. The lesson is to treat your mother like she should be treated. Remember that the Bible says ““Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12 ESV. Take the advice of the ancient Christians, for they know what they are talking about. Well done, sir, for this wonderful story about your mom’s mother’s day long ago.
Well written, Willie and you made my day. This is Letter to My Granddaughter No. 72 and let us hope there are many many more where this came from.
You are just too funny.
❤❤❤❤❤BEAUTIFUL story, thank you, Gen. Satterfield. ❤❤❤❤❤