I thought I would have to teach my daughter about the world; turns out I have to teach the world about her. They see a girl who doesn't speak,
I see a miracle who doesn't need words.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and I'm looking forward to spending the day with her and my sister.  My mother, who to this day will tell me she doesn't know where I came from, where I get my strength from.  You know the old saying the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?  My mother has taught me so many lessons in my life and still doesn't realize that all the credit goes to her.  My mother is the first person I call when I have important news, or I want to laugh about something, or I want to cry about something, or I want to vent because I'm mad about something.  She always knows what to say and she has such a way with words.  A Hallmark card from my mom will have you running for the Kleenex.  She is the first person to call me in the morning to check in and see how every ones night was, or to comment or laugh about one of my blog posts.  There isn't a day that goes by that we don't talk to each other at least two or three times a day.  In retrospect when I think back to the early days when we were realizing that Alex was going to be, well, Alex, how much harder it must have be for her, and I'm sure is still harder to this day.  I sometimes hurt for my daughter, but my mother has the double hurt.  She hurts for her daughter and her granddaughter.  My mother definitely did not have it easy growing up, and there is a lot I will probably never know about the difficulties she had and that's mostly because she doesn't complain and she has always strived to give me and my siblings a better life than she had.
 
This may come as a shocker to some, and some may cringe at the remembrance, but I was NOT an easy teenager growing up.  More often than not mom and I butted heads.  I was hip and cool and I knew all there was to know and she knew nothing.  My biggest regrets in life are knowing what I put my parents through in those hard teenage years.  But the one constant thing was their unwavering love.  And it has made the person that I am today.  Being a nurse she was always compassionate to her neighbors in need.  And from that I learned to have a generous heart.  My mother has always taught me that sometimes you don't do things because you want to, but because it's the right thing to do.  She's taught me that sometimes you decorate your dining room table because it's a holiday, and sometimes,  just because.  She's taught me sometimes you have to hit your knees praying because there is no where else to go.  She has taught me so many life lessons and I could write on and on about them.  My mother is an amazing mother.  She's an amazing Me-Me (and Me-Maw) to her grandchildren.  I'm lucky that I have the mother that I do.  I'm blessed beyond words.  Our whole family is.  She is our matriarch. 

I was driving the other day and heard this song on the radio.  It reminded me so much of my mom, not only because she likes this song, but because she truly does raise me up. I wish the pictures could have gone back further in time, but due to technical difficulties I couldn't, I hope you enjoy.  I love you Mom!
 

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