Queen Mother Tina Knowles Lawson, newly married, has written an open letter to her children—Beyoncé, Solange, Kelly Rowland and niece Angie and, in theory, the rest of us—for the occasion of mother’s day, at Time. It is a minor revelation.
In “You Have Been Such a Blessing To Me,” Miss Tina writes:
When I’m feeling sad or not-so-cute or maybe a little sorry for myself, and you all include me in your group chat and tell me how hot I still look or how cool I am. Maybe you send me a crazy YouTube video. What actually works best is a cute photo of my grandchildren.
I remember slumber parties after my divorce, when we watched old movies and ate a lot of ice cream. I felt so loved and supported. The roles were reversed, and it was ME who needed nurturing.
Miss Tina, as your adoptive daughters, we would like to also weigh in on how hot and how cool you are: CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HAVE NOT-SO-CUTE DAYS! MOM! Here is a crazy YouTube video, I watch it to get hype and also, it reminds me of you because, goddesses, gagging:
Secondly! The slumber parties! Sorry we couldn’t make it, but we still would like to know what movies you watched! I’m betting something with Pam Grier—Foxy Brown’s too obvious, maybe Sheba Baby?
We’ll be sure to make it next time, Miss Tina! I have some art-house DVDs I’ll bring along! Also, thank you so much for saying this:
The obvious things about all of you are apparent. You are all strong, beautiful, intelligent and smart businesswomen. You are so much more than that. You are all kind, generous and you treat people well. You are all amazing mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and friends. All of you have total self-respect.
Mama Tina! Our cup spilleth over!
There are more letters from moms at Time, in case you need more encouragement. All of them have deeply heartening titles—Chirlane McCray’s “Use Your Gifts to Create a More Just and Equal World,” Jennifer Weiner’s “You Are So Much More Than Your Looks,” Candace Parker’s “We’re a Team, Right Lai?”—possibly with the exception of Sharon Osbourne’s letter, which delivers some stone-cold tough love: “I CANNOT PROTECT YOU FROM THE WORLD.” Damn, Sharon! Happy Mother’s Day kids, earth is garbage!
Image via Getty
Contact the author at julianne@jezebel.com.