#happy mother's day to chris' mom; iris laplante. the true mvp.

[chrislaplante]

shoutout to the realest,

iris laplante (chris' mom), for being nothing short of a badass lady who has gone through some shit & is still standing. from having it all (her all), to having to put herself back in survival mode once everything collapsed from underneath her. iris, a driven & smart argentinian force to be reckoned with. she'd moved to the u.s. to study & eventually made a life for herself there. sixteen years later, she found herself with a family. a nice starter home in a picturesque small town in massachusetts both she & her now husband (that one canadian boy she met in college, her "cassie") loved. it seemed like a nice place to set roots on. now a wife & a mother of two, she was happy & could see a beautiful future ahead. that is until her husband passed suddenly, in the most unexpected, heartbreaking way. declared a suicide, with their boy in the house when it happened. her life changed completely when she returned home from dropping off their youngest for kindergarten. their eldest had been sick & stayed home with a fever, her husband caring for him until she got back. when she did, she found him. above the stairs. she'll never forget the sight of his feet hanging just above her. she can't remember if she saw anything else. if she had, it's gone. now numb she went in search of her child, having to run up the steps & avoiding the most horrible sight. her cassie was gone. she found the boy hiding in his bedroom closet, curled up under hanging clothing in the dark. hands over ears, tears running down his rosy, warm cheeks. she picked him up & ran with him in her arms, doing what she could to cover his eyes as she ran out of the house. that day changed everything. she's had to deal with the loss of the love of her life, feeling half of herself now gone forever, not being able to properly allow herself to mourn her cassie. conflicted with having to be rock solid for her kids. not being able to show weakness when the cops & the media came knocking. they'd found something amongst her husband's belongings. something horrible. something her cassie couldn't have possibly possess. she's had to raise her two kids on her own since then, with everything else that came at her. tough on the outside, ready to tear apart anyone who'd dare come near her children. yet remaining that gentle, nurturing (but direct) woman, teaching her kids that it's okay to miss & love their father, despite the circumstances. he'd loved them &, to her, that's what mattered. (she'll never speak of the conflict inside - those poor people.) all in all, iris went through baptism by fire & came out fiercer & more loving than before. chris & his sister couldn't ask for a more perfect woman to be their mother. showing her immense love, respect & gratitude every chance they get (he'll call her today, don't worry).