This was orginally written to be posted around Mother's day 2016. But it got put in the drafts folder and not thought about again until recently. I added and removed some thoughts and here it is....
Mother's Day 2016 came and went, and I whimped out on it. I guess it is because both of my mothers are both gone and my own daughter is not here either. I am happy for all those who still have their mom here to wish them a blessed day each and every day. I thought I would try to share several ways I think I was blessed by God with 2 wonderful mothers and given the great honor to be a mother to my daughter, Carol.
My mother in law, Kate, was a 'hot mess' as a friend likes to say about those who love to tease you and then act as innocent as she could. She was kind and generous, and oohhhh could she cook! She was my mother in law for over 25 years. She and Dad Bill were married over 50 years. Dad Bill took wonderful care of her before she fell and she required more care than he could provide at home, so she lived for about 5 years in a nursing home before she died in Dec. 2009. She and Dad Bill have 2 daughters and one son to carry on their legacy of love and kindness.
I have many good memories of my mom, but one that haunts me to this day is on Mother's day 2010. It was the first time Mom started feeling so bad from the cancer and she slept most all day. I was
excited to give her the card I had picked out for her, but I don't think she was alert enough to read it and she just held it in her lap.
Just a couple of weeks earlier, Karen and I had taken mom out to the mall in her wheelchair and she felt good. That was April 26th, her birthday. How things can change so fast with cancer. By the Thursday after Mother's day 2010, my mom and best friend for 47 was gone. It grieved me to see her hurting and I told her we would be alright if she wanted to go on to heaven. She said to me "don't cry, it's gonna be OK". My mom passed from this life into her eternal home peacefully on May 20, 2010.
One thing mom used to tell us is that we would never know how much she loved us until we had a child of our own. She is so very right about that! I heard a very true ad on tv about mothers....it said "I am who I am because of who you are." That is exactly how I feel; anything good and courageous in me is from my mom. So I feel very blessed can confidently say "I had the best mom ever."
Now I would not assume to speak for my daughter, but would think that based on other's conversations about her after her death in Feb of 2013 that I admit it...I usually think "they are talking about someone else who raised that girl, Carol, besides me." So I will take partial credit for instilling in her some of her contagious attitude and her love of life. Her daddy, and my parents and Bill's parents ...aunts, uncles, cousins, and misc family..all had a great part in her life and legacy. Even her in-law's...Cooper's family....all of them, helped make her one we remember with fondness at every turn. And her friends and teammates, whom she deeply loved...they add to the happiness of memories made with her. And them there is the one whose love made her smile brightest...Cooper. He brought out in her something for which I am most grateful ....the honor and commitment she had to him and the way he handed her new reigns for the new journey that they had started together.
So maybe it isn't Mother's Day, and maybe there are more than just women you have to be thankful for in your life or the life of your children. Go, and tell those people (and i mean speak it...not just a text} how blessed you are to have them in your life. And if they are already gone from this place and time, thank God for blessing you by putting many people in your life who made a change, who helped form your life story, and who gave you their best while here with you!
Judy
Sept 2, 2016
