Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother Days

Mothers Day comes once a year but the most special days were my true mother days, October 11, 1977 and October 28, 1980. These were the days that I gave birth to my two beautiful babies. I can proudly say they were a true blessing to me then, as they are today. I am not sure how I got so lucky--but God blessed me with wonderful children who have turned into delightful adults and my two best friends. Last year was also special, because they were both married to spouses whom they truly loved and love them in return. How much better does life get?

I have only eaten out twice on Mothers Day. This morning I went out to eat breakfast alone. Don't feel sorry for me---Jim rode his midnight ride last night and had breakfast with his friends and I opted to stay home and sleep. We will celebrate the day with grilled steaks later this afternoon. I must tell you about the last time we ate lunch out on Mothers Day. I think it was probably 1979. All of the mothers in Jim's family decided we needed to go out for lunch. Josh and Wesley were 1 1 /2 and the other children, Jodi, Carrie, Jonas, Cindy and Mona were school age and preteens. There was probably a total of about twenty people and we went to Western Sizzling Steak House. It was a "not so upscale place" and you had to wait in line. It took at least two hours to get a table and by the time we did-- all of the kids including Josh (who never got cranky) were out of control. Jim was starving and always gets extremely irritable when he gets hungry. I think it took us about four hours. That was the day we swore that we would never go out for a holiday again!! And to this day---we haven't. I can't remember many of the details, but knew I never wanted to do it again.

One other Mothers Day will always stand out. It was 1997. Brittany had just gotten her drivers license and begged me to drive to the BBQ festival. I gave her all of the usual warnings about being careful and parking away from the most traffic. She did that, but didn't notice that she parked early in the afternoon and one of the popular taverns was just across the street. When she got ready to leave, she had an accident. It was Saturday night before Mothers Day and we were all wiped out the next day. That incident, as awful as it was---probably made us much closer. I was thankful it wasn't any worse and that my baby was safe and she was thankful, I was there for her.

By the time I was the only mother to spend the day with, my children were gone from the nest and gone from Owensboro. I am glad to have Josh and Jen here for all of our holidays. One out of two isn't bad. Brittany will always be here in spirit. She is so much like me that I have no problem reading her mind. Josh on the other hand---I need to see his eyes and then---I don't always know what is going on. What I do know without a doubt is they love me and neither are very hard on me about my parenting skills. My greatest gift is that I can still tell my kids (all four of them now) that I love them every time I talk to them.

When I drove back into the drive this morning I saw my bright pink azalea blooming and looking at me. It was from the last Mothers Day I spent with my Grandmother Heppler. She got it as a prize for being the oldest mother at Newman Baptist Church. Every year it blooms I remember her and it seems to beckon me when I pull in my drive. When the kids were young Newman also had a tradition of giving all of the mothers a flower on that Sunday. The best gifts for me were the ones made by their little hands and given with so much pride.

There was also the year that Brittany's teacher had them write about their mothers and had it published in the local paper. Brittany said, "I love my Mom because she lets me do anything I want if it isn't dangerous". I just knew that people thought my parenting skills lacked a lot. What they didn't know was that Brittany was a very "spirited" child and I learned very early that I had to pick my fights. If it wasn't dangerous or disrespectful--it usually wasn't worth fighting over.

Since my Mothers birthday was the 18th of May, there were many Mothers Days that were spent trying to make all of the rounds to all of the Moms and grandmothers and still do something special for Mom's birthday. It would sometimes get pretty hectic as the end of school
approached. I must say I miss those days and and I miss my mother and all of the others. Like most other holidays, I learned that it was easier to celebrate and host them at my house. My children don't remember many family gatherings except at home. I wish more than anything that Mom could have seen how Brittany and Josh turned out---she would be so proud and so would Granny Benson.

Happy Mothers Day to all of my friends who are moms and those who have helped me raise my children, most especially Donna Basham (emergency contact and friend). Have a great day Mr. Bloggeriffic--you do a fantastic job of both mothering and being a Daddy to Jarod.

2 comments:

Mr. Bloggerific Himself said...

Thank you, I appreciate it. My mom tells me that, too, and it's always nice to hear. :)



Mom of Jack said...

Oh Sherry! I cried reading this, it is so sweet. Mother's Day is finally a day I look forward to again, and after reading this, I think I will start writing down what we do each year. Hopefully, one day soon Britt will be home and we will all be mommies and can spend the day together! I miss you! Love you.
Abby



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