With Mother’s Day just over the horizon, Black stars have been sharing heartfelt words about the special women in their lives, but in the Knowles family, it was the family’s matriarch who released an open letter about the best gifts she could have possibly asked for.
Tina Knowles only has two daughters, Beyonce and Solange, but she had four girls to be thankful for when she wrote a heartfelt letter published in Time just a few days ahead of Mother’s Day.
“I gave birth to two of you, but I have four incredible daughters,” the letter read referencing her own daughters as well as songstress Kelly Rowland and her niece Angela Beyince. “Writing this brought to mind all the ways you guys have been such a blessing to me.”
Tina’s letter thanked the girls for always making her feel “loved and supported” especially after she watched her marriage fall apart in 2011.
After years of being a pillar of support to the girls, she admitted that during that time she was the one who needed to receive the love and adoration that she was usually the source of.
“I remember slumber parties after my divorce, when we watched old movies and ate a lot of ice cream,” she wrote. “The roles were reversed, and it was ME who needed nurturing.”
The letter gave great detail about how all the girls have meant a lot to the now-61-year-old before making specific references to each of them separately.
To no surprise, she praised Solange as a “rebel warrior” and expressed how proud she was that her youngest girl was now her “own incredible, unapologetic person.”
“As tough as you are, you will drop everything to take care of someone you love,” Tina added.
As for Kelly, Tina thanked her for always providing a loving, sweet spirit when it was needed the most.
Ever since she was 11, according to Tina, Kelly was always the “sweetest, most kind person” she had ever met. Tina insists that she still hasn’t met anyone sweeter than the new mom.
Her words for her megastar oldest daughter reflected a message that the Queen Bey has expressed in the past — the desire to be seen for who she is and not the performer on stage.
“Beyonce, I wish people could see how you are when you’re not in front of the camera or on the stage,” she wrote. “How compassionate and kind you are to people, how you look them right in the eye when you speak to them.”
She added that while she may be lauded as the “Queen” now, she has remained “grounded and humble in the wake of all of your success.”
But it was her niece who received what is perhaps one of the greatest compliments of them all. Tina credits her with keeping the family together in times of distress, referring to her as the “family fixer” worthy of being deemed an Olivia Pope in her own right.
There is no doubt that a plethora of gifts will be coming Tina’s way Sunday, but according to her letter she has already received the most priceless gift any of the ladies could give to her.
After praising who each of the women were today, she explained that she felt honored to be a part of their journeys.
“It was at my recent wedding when all four of you said in your own words that I taught by example and that I helped to make you the women you are today,” she concluded.
For Tina, it’s a special moment that trumps anything anyone could possibly decorate with a bow or fit in a box.
