Amazing, Right?!

Tomorrow- May 2nd is my mom's 62nd birthday!  We had dinner together tonight with some of her fav's (Parmesan chicken and green beans, and her grand babies).  We have so much fun anytime we are around her.  If you know my mom, you know how little this post is going to cover.  If you don't know my mom, that's too bad!  She is amazing!  My mom married my dad almost 36 years ago and it was love at first sight.  Remember my dad had a congenital heart defect that cause all kinds of issues?  When they met, he was healthy, but she knew about his history and what might be to come.  She married him anyway.  Amazing, right?!  I am glad she did because a year later, they welcomed the most beautiful baby girl into their family.  Four years later a slightly less cute baby boy (ask my brother about this).  During this time my dad traveled a lot on business and my mom was a stay at home mom.  She would write him love notes every time he left. Amazing, right?! My dad kept them all.    When I was little my dad got sick.  He was in Tucson, and we of course lived in Phoenix.  My mom would spend the day with us, drive to Tucson to be with my dad and then home again so we wouldn't miss her.  She did have to stay a few nights and she still says she was in agony choosing "my dad over us"- Hello?!  That is how important it was that she was truly "there for us". Amazing, right?!   When my dad came home, it was apparent my mom would need a job.  We were in school full time, so she could have done anything.  She chose to work retail so she could be home when we got home from school, and get us ready for school without rushing in the morning.  She worked at night and on the weekends to help make ends meet.  This way she could be around if we needed her and the time that should have been "her own" after we went to bed was filled with customers and standing on her feet for 8 hours at a time.  Amazing, right?!  She cheered us on at sporting events, helped in our classrooms, thew the most amazing birthday parties and led our AWANA teams, high school d-groups and choir tours with the rest of her "free time".  She always made her family the top priority in a time when moms were being urged to put themselves first.  Oh and by the way, she told us every night how much she loved us and that we were a gift from the Lord.  Amazing, right?!  She hosted all of my roommates (and Bill's too) for every holiday so they wouldn't miss their families so badly.  She fed the high school football team every night before the games-CORN CHOWDER ANYONE?!  Amazing, right?!  She took money out of her retirement to pay for my wedding because she wanted everything to be just as I had always dreamed.  Amazing, right?! She battled breast cancer, never complained, and only missed one day of work after each round of chemo.  Amazing, right?!  When my dad was dying, she was with him from "shift change to shift change" to make sure he felt safe and comfortable.  She let anyone visit because that's what my dad wanted.  She never looked at the time she spent with him as "just her time".  Amazing, right?!  When he passed away she gave each of his siblings an amazing gift, a "part" of daddy when she made teddy bears out of his clothes.  She didn't keep his clothes to hold on, or donate them to let go.  She used them to make precious keep sakes and ran out of time to make one for herself.  She still hasn't had tome to finish that project.  Amazing, right?!  She has channelled her grief into helping others understand what it must be like at the end of life and how to handle the impossible.  Amazing, right?  Now that I am a mom I appreciate all of her hard work and sacrifice more than ever.  When she picked us up from the airport when Benjamin was born, she ran through baggage claim bawling, "he's just so beautiful" to everyone she saw.  She has no shame when it comes to her grand kids because she loves them so much.  Amazing, right?!  She is over the top gentle hearted, she cries at cough medicine commercials (that is where I get it) and has an overwhelming need to be sure everyone else is okay, that is how she "becomes" okay.  She is a tireless servant, one of the strongest women I know, and I am so proud to call her my mom.  Amazing, right?!
Love you Mom- Happy Birthday!