Sunday, May 10, 2015

Happy Mother's Day

Today is my first Mother’s Day without my mom.  She was my best friend. I was able to tell her anything.  We had breakfast almost every Saturday morning together for the last 30 years.  In the last 10 years or so I began to take care of her and my dad and their finances.  Then dad passed on 4 years ago.  We moved mom to town and continued on.  
As she continued to age I helped her with groceries, and then later with laundry and shortly after the first of the year I hired a nurse 3 days a week to help.  Everything happened so fast.


On March 21 we had her 90th Birthday party.  Of her four kids, nine grandkids and 12 great-grandkid, only three couldn't make it.  Even her brother and some of his family came.  Some of these grandkids she hadn’t seen in years and some of the great - grandkids she had never even met before.  It was huge success and she had a great time seeing everyone.   We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day, even the March weather was great.  We were able to take tons of pictures just outside her apartment building, right on the city lake.  She had so much fun and was so happy.


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Three days later I went to pick her up to go to the doctor.  I made her breakfast and coffee and the nurse came to visit for her regular check.  Two and a half hours later she was in a comma and 10 hours after that she had passed on and my world turned upside down.  It was all so sudden. While she was in the hospital, all of us living here were able to come be with her and I never left her side.  Even though I knew the way things happened was just as she would have wanted it, I was completely devastated.  


I guess like most kids we expect our parents to live forever.  Mom lived her life for her family.  I remember her regularly taking me and friends to the drive-in movie in our little town with fried chicken in a brown bag and popcorn for later because we didn’t have a lot of money for concessions and the movie tickets were fairly cheap.   She entered the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes for more than 20 years, just so she could win and give it to us kids.  She always talked about how she would divide it among us kids and grandkids.  

She didn't like getting flowers because she was no good at taking care of them, but after going through her stuff, I can tell you she kept every card she ever got.  Every homemade picture or note we ever wrote her was in a box somewhere.  After being orphaned at a young age with very little from her family, it was her mission to make sure it was different for us.  She succeeded.


Since the family had just been here for her birthday party, we had to wait to celebrate her life until earlier this month.  We went through all the pictures, cards, letters and other stuff she had accumulated and saved all these years and then shared stories about her.  It was a wonderful day full of memories of mom.  


This year I will remember my mom and feel fortunate for all she passed on to me and that I had her for so long.  But I’ll also miss her terribly.   So, enjoy your mom every day while she’s here.  Tell her how much you love her every chance you get.  Some day, before you know it, that chance will be gone, so take advantage of every minute you get.  


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Thanks for letting me tell you about my mom.  I’m so very proud of who and what she was and of what she left behind in each of us.  Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.  

Do you have a story about your mom you would like to share?

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About Me

I'm a country girl who loves to learn new things, some things for living and some things for fun, and other things, just because.