Happy Mother's Day to My Mother

Yes I know Mother's Day was yesterday, and I'm late at posting this.  Some may say, "Just forget about it and try to be on time next year", but this is really too important of a post to put off, to postpone saying things I should say more often.  I have friends who have lost their mothers and know this day must be difficult for them.  It makes me even more grateful that my mother is still here  and I can tell her how much she means to me and how wonderful she is.  This is a post about my mother.

Few people influence our lives as much as our mother.  For better or worse, a mother is often the person who can have the greatest impact on the type of person we become.  Nothing scares me more as a mother myself than this realization, knowing the responsibility, privilege and blessing that my actions and words are as a mother to my children. 

I have been blessed with an incredible mother.  A top of the class, Straight A+, creme de la creme mom!  A true gift from God to me and all who know her.

I started this post on Saturday, but ran out of time to get it finished and posted on Sunday.  Then I read a friend of mine's post about her mother and couldn't have been more surprised to see my own thoughts and feelings about MY mom written on HER blog!  I'm so thankful Heather Jo has a mom as awesome as mine and with her permission I'm sharing "my" thoughts about my mom as written on her blog (italics are Heather Jo's words, non-italics and blue words are mine):

She has always been one of my best friends.  I never went through a phase where I thought she was uncool or I didn't want her around.  I was even glad that she worked some at my high school and I could see her daily.  On the contrary, I had friends that wanted to come to my house because they loved my mom too.

She's the most selfless person I know (almost to a fault). She has always put everyone else's needs ahead of her own.  She has a wonderful, giving, and loving heart and is ALWAYS on the go (unless she's enjoying a good book)!.

She loves her family and God with all her heart.

She takes my kids to Disneyland!

I can talk to her multiple times a day and we still do not run out of things to talk about (something our husbands will never understand).

She genuinely loves her grandkids! (and being a grandma). 

She has always been my biggest fan!

I'm blessed because she's mine.

Here she is beaming when Daddy and I got engaged:

Mom and I on my wedding day, isn't she radiant?

She has always been amazing about making each day special and giving me sweet cards on each holiday like this one from many years ago:

I've always loved her little notes, like this one on the left she left in my desk during my 5th grade "Back To School Night" to surprise me the next morning, or these two on the right she sent to me in college (don't forget you can click on the image to make it bigger):

The summer after my freshman year of high school I went and stayed a week with some cousins in Southern California and she sent me this sweet postcard of my hometown:

My mom and her family are big on traditions and growing up she and I enjoyed many traditions that I loved such as:

 - going out for an ice cream sundae after the first day of school

 - shopping 'til we drop

 - hamburgers and THE BEST chocolate milkshakes ever (made by my mom)

 - relaxing by the wood stove with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate or tea during the winter

 - waking up to "Good morning Sunshine!"

 - helping the underprivileged kids shop with charity money at Christmas

Mom is always the first to volunteer for anything, especially if it involves helping kids.  She started up a snack booth for our junior high basketball games when she noticed kids were hungry and had nowhere to get food.  She also is an entrepreneur and savvy business-woman as she was able to use the money made to go back toward things for the students.  

A blog I read recently had a giveaway and to enter you needed to answer one question, "What was the best piece of advice your mom gave you?"  My response was this:

I remember at my 7th grade Open House Night at school an unpopular boy walking past and saying, "Hi".  I said, "Hello" back and when my mom asked me, "Who was that?" my reply was, "Nobody."  She stopped me right there and said, "Everybody is somebody." and then proceeded to ground me from whatever activity I had planned for that weekend.  It made an impact, it taught me that yes, regardless of societal stature, everybody IS somebody who deserves to be loved, liked and shown  kindness and courtesy.  This has come into play many times in my life as I've sought out the person who isn't talking to anyone in a room full of people or in the way I treat people I encounter throughout the ordinary task of running errands.  I'm hoping my actions are teaching my children this same lesson.

Mom you are amazing!  You are beautiful (inside and out), radiant, the best hugger ever, your grandchildren adore you and are blessed tremendously through your love, as am I, and I don't know what I would do without you.  I can't imagine the kind of person I'd be or where I would be without your endless faith and encouragement in me.  I'm sorry I didn't get to spend Mother's Day with you, but know that you make everyday special just by being in it.  I love you!

 

P.S. - Please forgive me for posting all of these pictures of you, I know you're not a big fan of pictures of yourself but I see a gorgeous, shining gal that needs to be seen by my blog readers and my children (when they have this as a printed book)!  Love you! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX