Happy Mother's Day, Mom

I love my mom. She taught me some amazing lessons in life.

She taught me that sometimes life is hard and you have to cry and pray. Then you better get up and go do the chores.

She taught me that mothers who love their children occasionally need a break. She periodically took off, by herself, to art workshops or on trips to visit family so she could be a better mom. So many times she has told me that it is not selfish or bad to need to be alone for a day or two.

She taught me to appreciate beauty by taking me to art museums and by creating beautiful art work. You can see some of her work at www.griffithfineartgallery.com and www.fbgartgallery.com. I loved going to art shows with her.

She taught me to appreciate music by giving me many opportunities to hear her play the piano. Sometimes she would play for what seemed like hours. Beautiful classical pieces that rang out in our country farm house. She worked so hard on the farm, cooking, ironing, working in the garden. But she made time to paint and play the piano.

She taught me that fresh bread out of the oven not only smells good but tastes really good! Not only that, she surrendered her kitchen to me and gave me the freedom to try out recipes and cook anything I wanted.

She taught me that reading is a great way to have adventures. She took me to the library so I could check out my weekly stack of 10 books!

She taught me that working together as a family is good. She also taught me that working alongside her husband was good and that it is good to be friends with your spouse, even if you occasionally get mad at him!

She taught me that mothers are for cheering on kids. She taught me that God created me for a purpose. She taught me to have the confidence to know that I can do it, whatever it is, even if it isn't perfect.

She taught me that when life hurts and the body hurts and it seems impossible to go on, you can do it, and tears are okay.

I am thankful for my mom. She is the best cheerleader. I wish she lived down the road instead of Texas. I miss our annual roadtrips. But thanks to email and phone calls and visits now and then, it isn't so far away.

So many other things. But the kids need me and we are going to have a piece of Maggie made chocolate cake to celebrate Philip's 51st birthday.

But for now, Mom, know that I am thankful for you. So glad you are my mom. Miss you and can't wait to see you this summer!

And I should mention that there are a couple of other ladies who have greatly influenced my life, Kathy Hamburger and Judy Arnold. Both were in my life for different seasons. I wish I could give them a big hug, too. But I guess a phone call will have to suffice. Even if some people gripe about Mother's Day being created by the greeting card companies, I like having a day to remember special people. (and it doesn't hurt my feelings to receive beautifully hand-made cards and bouquets from my own children on this special day either!)