Dear fellow PTO Mom

Dear Fellow PTO Mom,

We don’t know each other that well, but yesterday you saw me. I was struggling to walk in the door of the school to pick up my kid. You said hello, and I tried to be okay. I waited for Ms. Perfect to step in. I’m the president of the PTO, afterall. Ms. Perfect should have stepped in to preserve the image of having it all together. But she didn’t. So I looked at you, and tried to smile and said hi back. You asked me if I was okay, was something wrong? The tears broke free then, and you grabbed my hand in solidarity after handing me a tissue and we walked into school together. You helped my kid get her things together, because somehow you knew it was all I could do to keep the tears at bay. You saw me.

Later, you sent me a message, suggesting we have a drink together via video chat while we made our dishes for school potluck. I agreed, figuring you would forget. But you didn’t forget. You would called me after the kids were in bed. We had a drink and did some baking together. Most important we chatted about nothing but I felt less alone than I had all day. Thank you for reaching out and caring. Thank you for seeing me.