Mother's Day

I know that a lot of people will claim that they have the best mother, and maybe somehow we’re all right. My guess is that moms are meant for certain people- It’s just the way God tends to work. I always knew how blessed I was, even when I didn’t say it. Since becoming a mom I’m even more aware of how incredible my mom is.

There’s so much I could say about her, but I’ll try to be concise.

Somehow she’s managed to live amongst a lot of frustration. What I mean by that is two fold- first my dad can easily be frustrating (some may understand what I mean by that) and second since meeting my dad she started working with their family business which is now run by her and my 2 oldest brothers. It’s a rental business, so between constantly going to court to have people evicted to the shear pressure of dealing with people, it can be very hard. I never knew how hard until I got older and could understand.

My mom has a big heart. I’ve seen her compassion for people and I’ve seen her sacrifice for others.

She is patient. I think all I have to say is that she raised Brady and I- both difficult in our own ways. J There were a handful of years in high school that my mom will admit were our difficult years. I struggled with things and I truly believe that I chose to be angry toward the one person I knew would always love me no matter what. I wish I hadn’t gone through that stage, I wish so many things about that time of my life, but I am so blessed because my mom was there through it all- even when I thought I didn’t need her.

My mom is strong. Even before her battle with breast cancer I knew she was strong. She’s taken care (aka spoiled) my dad ever since they’ve been married. More recently, in the last 7 years he’s been through heart surgery, 3/4 years of dialysis, a kidney transplant and I don’t even know how many hospital stays. She’s been there for EVERYTHING. If there could be one thing I wish for her, I would wish that she didn’t remember the 3 days after the transplant. It was a nightmare.

We don’t make things easy for her either. I live in NYC- I’m far away and I know she’s always a little scared of what could happen and Brady is a police officer in Washington DC- also very scary!

My mom is loving. Just ask her 8 grandchildren- who have spent a lot of time at Nanny’s house (James is the only one not close by). She loves every one of them with a special kind of love and treasures the time they spend with her. She attends as many baseball, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, volleyball games as she possibly can. What breaks my heart right now is that she has a great-granddaughter who she doesn’t get to see and a granddaughter who has chosen to walk away.

Apparently I can’t be concise when it comes to describing my mom. She’s always called me her rock, but what she doesn’t know is that she’s the solid ground our whole family stands on- without her things would be so unsteady (Please know that I am not, of course, putting my mom in the place of God by saying she is our solid ground.)

So, today I celebrate the wonderful mother God has given me. Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday. I love you mom!!