normally, when i mention my mom, i’m bitching about her. about her tendency to be critical, condescending, difficult, stubborn, closed-off, whatever. and while she often is those things, she’s also the incredibly wonderful person i couldn’t imagine living without and i can only hope to one day be as amazing.
my mom is the baby in her family. she has 2 older brothers who are at least 11 years older than her. so she kind of grew up as an only child. we have alot in common because of being the babies. my mom worked hard when she was growing up. she’d help my grandfather, a mason, when she was a little girl. she’d help out with the minks on their mink farm (sorry peta people… i have real mink stoles and i LOVE them!). she was the one everyone looked out for. she didn’t get into too much trouble, that i know of, but she seemed to always be on the verge of it. sometimes she was a little too independent for her own good and that made everyone around her worry. in junior high and high school she was a majorette. she married my dad not long after highschool, they were sweethearts.
when we lived in california my mom was a blue birds and campfire girls leader. she took me and my sister to disneyland and mickey grove during the days. we’d spend the entire day feeding the fish, watching the monkeys, having picnics. when we moved to new england we got to be closer to both of their families, but mostly my mom’s. when her own mother’s health began failing she brought her her to live with us. she cared for her day and night until the she passed away.
my mom was a full-time mom for us. she wanted to be there for everything we went through. she was our girl scout troop leader from brownies to whatever the blue level is. she was always room mother and teacher’s helper for all classes that my sister and i were in. she always made huge gift baskets for our teachers on holidays. she’d spend the entire weekend in the kitchen making mini bread loaves and other goodies to put in them. she does everything with a great amount of care and detail. she went to work for my dad as his office manager once we were older. everything she does is so professional.
she’d let me crawl into her bed when i had nightmares. sometimes i faked nightmares just to sleep in the bed with my parents. she’d always complain because i’d toss and turn and knock people out with my flailing limbs. even when i didn’t have nightmares i would run into my mom’s room to hop into bed with her once i woke up.
when the company my dad worked for went under she took on the role as supporter. at one point i can remember never seeing her anymore because she was working 3 jobs. of course i didn’t appreciate it at the time, but she was doing this so we could continue to live the way we always had. she did this to pay for camp, my cheerleading sneakers, my sister’s violin lessons, art classes. she did this so that there would still be piles upon piles of gifts around the christmas tree. she always did everything for us.
she’s always steered us in the right direction. she always made sure we put others before ourselves. she’ll give anyone the shirt off her back whether they need it or just really like it. she’s only ever wanted the best for us. she’s always been the one with the final say. she’s always been the enforcer of discipline. she may have seemed mean for some of the things she grounded us over, but it’s only because she knew we were better than that and she was disappointed when she felt we weren’t reaching our potential. no matter what decisions we’ve made in our lives she’s always stood by us. family has always come first.
she’s spent her entire life doing things for us and everyone else. everyone comes before her. i can’t think of a single thing she’s done for herself. when my father died she was so afraid to inconvenience anyone else to ask them to cover for her that she was still going into work. my sister and i had to be mean to her to get her to stop.
she lost her husband, her soul mate, her first and only real love last year. and she’s still hanging in there. when i come to visit i look forward to crawling into her bed while she reads, watches tv, or sleeps. she really is the most amazing woman. and while the words don’t come easily to her, she tells us how much she loves us with everything she does.
i love my mom and even though i can’t be there i hope she has a great mother’s day : )
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(sounding the horns)
i received my pay it forward package. yay! it’s such a great day brightener to get a package that you really weren’t watching the door for. and with such delicious goodies inside!
honestly, i was dreading the possibility of winning one of these for having to offer the same thing. but it’s really kinda fun. and the thought of putting a package together lends to so many possibilities. so now it’s my turn… i still don’t know what i will send. magda actually sent me one of the things i planned on sending. so go for it people. all my comments until monday will count. then i’ll pick a winner and send something out. … then it will be your turn : )
