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Buying flowers, splurging on jewelry or treating your mom to brunch this Mother’s Day? Great job: Mama deserves it! Mothers in all ages and stages value being appreciated by their children. Genuine tokens of affection, gratitude and love are special and the more, the merrier.
Mothers, and the people she raised, also deserve an opportunity peel back the layers and really get to know one another. Many of us had mothers and maternal figures who were grossly misunderstood. Open and honest conservations can prevent family secrets from staying concealed until major life milestones like a death, birth or marriage—an all-too familiar occurrence in our community.
Leave it to a Black woman to see a need not just in her family but throughout the culture and thoughtfully fill said need with limited resources but an abundance of ingenuity. Venice Garner Moore did just that. The therapist, life coach and owner of Embrace Your Difference, LLC. is the creator of the Parent & Adult Child Connection Cards. As a wife and mother of four who has more than two decades of professional experience in the mental health field, Moore realized that there was a huge need for these cards to foster stronger bonds and healing in our families. After all, you can’t heal what you don’t reveal. Keep reading for Moore’s breakdown of why she created the cards, who can benefit most from them and why these cards are especially poignant to begin using on Mother’s Day in May, which happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month.
ESSENCE: What was the inspiration for your Parents & Adult Child Connection Cards?
VENICE GARNER MOORE: Over the last several years, I noticed a recurring theme in therapy sessions—many adults were coming in carrying unspoken feelings, unresolved childhood wounds, grief, misunderstandings and questions they had never truly asked their parents. At the same time, many parents were entering sessions emotionally exhausted, carrying the weight of life, sacrifice, survival and responsibility, while realizing their children only knew them as “Mom,” “Dad,” the rescuer, or the provider — but not fully as human beings with their own stories, fears, pain, dreams, and unmet needs.
I’ve facilitated sessions between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons and entire families where, sometimes for the first time, they were able to move beyond surface-level communication and have real healing conversations. Conversations rooted in truth, vulnerability, accountability, forgiveness, grief, love, and understanding. The feedback after many of those sessions was powerful. People would say things like, “I didn’t realize I needed this conversation,” or “I finally feel heard.” Some families described feeling emotionally lighter afterward, as if parts of them had finally exhaled.
One session deeply stayed with me. After it ended, I remember sitting in my office thinking, “There is substance here. I need to do more with this.” I realized these conversations should not only happen inside therapy offices. Families everywhere deserve tools that help them connect on a deeper emotional level.
ESSENCE: Was there a personal catalyst as well?
MOORE: Yes. A few months before my mother passed away, we shared a meaningful conversation that I now hold close to my heart. At the time, I did not know her life would end within the following year, but I am forever grateful that nothing important was left unsaid between us. We both left that conversation feeling heard, understood, connected, and emotionally at peace with one another. That experience made me reflect even more on how many people never get the opportunity to have those conversations before it is too late.
ESSENCE: What has some of the feedback been thus far about the cards?
MOORE: Many people expressed that they never really knew how to start certain conversations with their parents or adult children. Or, they were afraid of how those conversations might unfold. The cards created a softer, safer entry point into discussions that may have otherwise never happened. Others shared that the experience helped them engage with one another in a meaningful way — without distractions, defensiveness, or social media getting in the way. In a world where so many families are constantly “connected” digitally but emotionally disconnected, people expressed how refreshing and healing it felt to sit down, be present, and genuinely listen to one another.
ESSENCE: In Black families, secrets are often kept until someone dies, gets married or has a baby. Could these cards help minimize this?
MOORE: Yes, these cards can help minimize some of the silence and secrecy that many families—especially within Black families—have carried for generations. In many households, people were taught to avoid difficult conversations, suppress emotions or “keep things in the house.” While some of that came from survival, cultural conditioning or protection, it also created generations of people carrying hidden pain, unresolved trauma and emotional disconnection.
Most importantly, these conversations can become part of healing generational cycles. When families begin communicating more openly, younger generations learn that vulnerability and emotional honesty are not things to fear. They begin to understand that healing does not weaken a family — it strengthens it. Of course, one card deck cannot erase generations of silence overnight, but it can become a starting point. One honest conversation can prevent years of misunderstanding, pain or regret later.
ESSENCE: In what ways can these cards make great Mother’s Day Gifts?
MOORE: They offer something many mothers long for but cannot buy — intentional connection. Any mother who receives these cards — in addition to the flowers, bags, brunches, etc.— will likely feel that the giver genuinely wants to spend quality time with her, hear her heart and understand her beyond just her role as “Mom.”
I also love is how versatile they are. Families can use them during Mother’s Day brunch, while traveling, during spa days, on long car rides, during quiet evenings at home or even as part of a yearly family tradition. The experience becomes less about simply giving a gift and more about creating memories and moments that last.
TOPICS: black families Black mothers mental health awareness month Mother’s Day Mother’s Day gifts