[vaffla]

Any criticism would be greatly appreciated, as English is my second language :

Dear T,
You are not my mother.
You did not create me and your body did not give life to mine.
You did not raise me up; you have not fed me, nor were you there when the baby I once was have become the person I am today.
But you are nourishing my soul
You are making me grow
There are many things that you give me, but two of them stand out for me – your love and your emotional presence. You are present with me like no one in my life has ever been before, and that means the world to me.
You are helping the person I am today to become the person I will be tomorrow, and thus you are raising me up.
With your love, you are helping me become, and thus you are creating new life in me.
And so, despite the fact that I am not your offspring,
Inside my heart
You are my mother.
I am so lucky to have you be part of my life, and I am forever grateful.
Much love,
Vaffla

[Victoria'smom]

That is such a sweet letter. I'm sure you T will be very touched.

Originally Posted by vaffla

Any criticism would be greatly appreciated, as English is my second language :

Dear T,
You are not my mother.
You did not create me and your body did not give life to mine.
You did not raise me up; you have not fed me, nor were you there when the baby I once was have become the person I am today.
But you are nourishing my soul
You are making me grow
There are many things that you give me, but two of them stand out for me – your love and your emotional presence. You are present with me like no one in my life has ever been before, and that means the world to me.
You are helping the person I am today to become the person I will be tomorrow, and thus you are raising me up.
With your love, you are helping me become, and thus you are creating new life in me.
And so, despite the fact that I am not your offspring,
Inside my heart
You are my mother.
I am so lucky to have you be part of my life, and I am forever grateful.
Much love,
Vaffla

Vaffla,

that is a wonderful letter. Your thoughts come through perfectly, and I'm sure your T will be very happy indeed when she reads it.

You did ask specifically for ESL criticism, and that's the only reason I'm going to mention this - "the baby I once was have become the person I am today" should be "the baby I once was became the person I am today", and "raise me up"/"raising me up" should probably just be "raise me"/"raising me" (because "raise up" has to do with physically moving things around). Those minor points don't make your letter hard to understand, they are very minor errors, and other than that, your English is pretty darn native-like as far as I can judge. (I'm sorry if I'm being a showoff, but I do teach English grammar at university to ESL/EFL students, so this is something I know something about, and as an ESL user myself I know that it can be important to get a confirmation that there aren't any language errors.)

And you do have a beautiful turn of phease.

[vaffla]

Originally Posted by Apteryx

Vaffla,

that is a wonderful letter. Your thoughts come through perfectly, and I'm sure your T will be very happy indeed when she reads it.

You did ask specifically for ESL criticism, and that's the only reason I'm going to mention this - "the baby I once was have become the person I am today" should be "the baby I once was became the person I am today", and "raise me up"/"raising me up" should probably just be "raise me"/"raising me" (because "raise up" has to do with physically moving things around). Those minor points don't make your letter hard to understand, they are very minor errors, and other than that, your English is pretty darn native-like as far as I can judge. (I'm sorry if I'm being a showoff, but I do teach English grammar at university to ESL/EFL students, so this is something I know something about, and as an ESL user myself I know that it can be important to get a confirmation that there aren't any language errors.)

And you do have a beautiful turn of phease.

Thank you SO MUCH!!! That has been very helpful .

[Towanda]

Vaffla, what a beautiful poem - it brought tears to my eyes. I am in school training to become a therapist. I hope one day that I can inspire someone to write words like yours. How wonderful to have that kind of relationship with another human being - you are both truly blessed.

[Crescent Moon]

One of the most beautiful things I've ever read. And I can relate to it very well.. my own mother was wholly rejecting of me in every way but physically. I was not what she had in mind - and she let me know it every day. My therapist became what I had not experienced. Wholly accepting.. emotionally available.. attuned to me.

Your letter is very, very moving.

[vaffla]

Thank you for saying that Crescent moon and Tawanda! I started to think it sucked because so many people read it and hardly anyone responded...

[Wren_]

it's beautiful vaffla i hope it brings great joy to your T

[rainbow_rose]

that's lovely. wish i were brave enough to share something like this with my therapist.

That's wonderful I love it. I am sure your T will love it too--let us know her reaction!

[Emptty]

It's great that you feel comfortable enough and close enough with your therapist to write her this. It is great, I think, because it is from the heart. I'm sure it will be very much appreciated and hey thanks for the great idea - when fathers day rolls around I might write my T. :-)

[rainbow8]

Vaffla, I've missed your posts! Your letter is beautiful and I'm absolutely positive that your T will love it!!!!