Happy Mother's Day

I wrote this post on Mother's Day. I found some pictures of my Mom, but I'm not sure about how to scan them. You may not be interested in reading such a long post, but that's okay. Maybe this post was my way of paying a tribute to my Mom for myself. It felt good to write about her.



Happy Mother's Day to all women, if you are a mother or not. It is a day to celebrate us as the caring, loving, intelligent people that we truly are.

I don't know about you, but I have lots of "moms". My aunts are always there for me, even if I do live 12 hours away. My sister and sister-in-law are pillars of strength for me. They live 12 hours away, too, but they are just a phone call away. Then there are the 150 women that make up the Quilt Guild that I am in. They support me in everything that I do.

My best friend Terry...what would I do without her? She loves my family so much, and I love hers, too. Between us we have 11 grandchildren under the age of 6. We realize how blessed we are when our families get together for holidays (Christmas and Birthdays) and they are running and screaming. Terry is my thrifting, quilting, fabric shopping buddy. She is always there when I take on huge tasks of being Quilt Guild President, Quilt Show Chairperson, and Quilter's Day Out Chairperson. She paints rooms, wallpapers, grooms my dog (he passed away last year), and is there during difficult times (rebellious teenager stuff again).

Of course I can't mention Mother's Day without talking about my Mom. Mom passed away in 1989 with breast cancer. She is the reason I am who I am today.

I was 25 when Mom passed away. She was my best friend. I had two children (4 and 2), my husband was working in South Carolina, I was living in LA (the state) in our home, and I was about to graduate from college. She had battled cancer off and on for about 10 years. I feel so blessed to have had her as long as I did.

Okay...that's the sad part. The happy part is the heritage that she left me. As I looked at her resting it dawned on me that she entered this world with nothing, and she left with nothing. However, the many things that I learned from her and the wonderful memories I have of her far outweigh all of the material things in life.

She taught me how to have faith in God, even when those around you say there's no way out. I may not have battled cancer, but I have battled a rebellious teenager. Believe me, faith can move mountains.

She was a mentor to young people, young mothers, and to her clients at her accounting firm. She taught me that you don't have to be related to people to care for them and love them.

She taught me how to sew. She bought my first sewing machine when I was 12. I can still see her hands over my hands as I push fabric under the needle. She had such patience, bless her heart. Her teaching me how to sew has made my home beautiful, kept our bodies warm, and clothed me and my children. My sewing machine has been my therapy for when life gets too hard to handle. I have figured out a lot of lifes problems while making something beautiful with my sewing machine.

I understand now why she loved to walk so much. She walked everywhere she went. I thought she was doing for exercise, even though she weighed 118. Little did I know that she not only did it for exercise, but she did it to get away, clear her mind, and to get those endorphins going. She probably also did it so she wouldn't spread out from sewing and sitting at a desk all day, thus the reason I don't weigh 118 and she did.

She and my dad taught me to have a positive spirt. They both read The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, and that's all I heard. There's always a positive side to things. My family and I get teased because we smile all the time. A man that I knew when I lived in PA asked me one day what was there to be so happy about? He told me that every time he sees me, my husband, or my kids we're always smiling. I don't know...I have lots to be happy about. Happiness is a choice. You have to work for it. It doesn't just happen. It starts first with a positive attitude.

She taught me how to love unconditionally. I think that the best gift a mother can give her children is to love them no matter what. (That really came in handy when my daughter was 16, pregnant, and ran away from home. Talk about hard times. All is great now.) I think if we all loved each other, no matter what, the world would be a happier, more peaceful place.

She taught me how to forgive. That's a big one. It is hard to forgive, but forgiving sets you free. It doesn't excuse what someone has done to you, but it lets you live. It doesn't let you forget, but it lets you move forward.

She taught me how to bake. I am known everywhere for my chocolate chip cookies. I use the same recipe that is on the back of a bag of chocolate chips, but for some reason mine turn out better. If you read my personal profile you all know I can't cook. I got that from her, too.

She taught me how to comfort others, whether they are grieving, homebound, hurt, sick, or overwhelmed. She also taught me how to accept others comforting me when I am grieving, hurt, sick, homebound (I was homebound for 3 months with a sick baby. I couldn't go anywhere and no one could come to my home),and overwhelmed.

Our fun times were spent shopping, shopping for fabric, sewing together, visitng family, spending time at the lake house, traveling with our travel trailer, traveling to visit her brothers in Colorado and Texas, taking long walks, watching her fall in love with my oldest two children (she died before my third one was born, so I named her after my Mom: Julia!) and so many more. Thanks to my parents, I had a great childhood.

I don't know about you, but it seems that this Mother's Day I have heard more people not only talk about their Mothers, but of all the women in their lives. I like that! The power of women is great. Just look at us all in blogland. We laugh, cry, pray for each other, get inspired by each other, and so much more. I hope you're feeling the bloggie love like Monica talks about!