Wednesday, January 22, 2014
I am blessed to have only good memories of my mom, dad, and childhood. I was born to amazing parents, who loved my brother and I very much and let us always know how proud they were of us. When I think about my mom, I think of a woman who knew how to live life. She was always ready for a new experience and lived life to its fullest. Since her retirement, I would often joke with her that I needed her to pencil me in her schedule. I was just kidding, of course, as her favorite thing to do was spend time with her family. I loved it that she kept busy, learning the piano, studying French, going out with friend to the theater or to lunch. One thing I admire about my mom was her positive attitude. She never let things get her down and she always saw the best in a situation and in people in general. I work to model after my mother, working to try to bring positive energy into each of my days, which leads to having many happy days.
My mom was just a fun person to be around. She loved to laugh and could take a joke, even at her own expense. My mom had a gift for leaving the longest answering machine messages ever, I often thought the tape would run out and sometimes it did. I think it was her way of connecting with us and letting us know she was always thinking of us. She also loved butter, which was a running joke. My mom would butter her bread before putting peanut butter on it; she would literally take a stick of butter and dredge her popcorn in it before each bite. The funny part was my mom had better cholesterol than a 21 year old. My kids would always laugh and say "Grammy loves butter".
As a mom, she was always patient, loving, and kind. Even if we messed up, she would help us look at what we did wrong and help us learn from it, instead of making us feel bad about ourselves or unloved.
My mom was a woman of many talents. My best friend and I used to call my mom MacGyver, after the TV series that was on when we were growing up. Like MacGyver, my mom could fix anything. She rewired broken fan motors, built book shelves in our family room, installed an above ground pool, painted like a pro, and fixed many broken toys to our delight. Besides being handy, my mom was a great cook. She was the hostess of many wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and birthday dinners. My mom always went all out. I mean most families have a meat, a vegetable, and another side. We would have a meat, four vegetables (scallop corn, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, Texas potatoes, 2 fruit salads (waldoff salad and a strawberry salad), Hawaiian rolls, and of course homemade pies for dessert at least (one cherry, one pumpkin, and one pecan). Everyone loved my mom's big dinners. She was also known for her chicken and dumpling soup which was a family favorite.
I loved spending time with my mom. We were very close, like best girl-friends. We would talk often about our days and share exciting events in our lives. I am thankful how we would regularly express our love toward one another as it is easy now to have "no regrets".
My mom was also a wonderful "Grammy". She had so much fun with her grandchildren. She wasn't the typical grandmother. She always had fun things to do with them to make each visit special. Whether it was doing an art project, science experiment, attending a play, or swimming in the pool, Grammy made every minute count. For example, at my daughter's last birthday my brother brought down a small motorcycle for my son to try out. It wasn't too long before my mom thought she needed to try it out. So there goes my mom riding around the yard on a motorcycle, squealing with delight. She wasn't afraid of the what if's in life (ex. What if I crash, what it I broke a hip, etc.). She always lived life knowing that things would work out the way they were meant to be. I do feel it was in my mom's plan to pass when she did, on an adventure :)
I could go on and on about all my wonderful memories of my mom. From 4-H to camping, to awesome family vacations (ex. Canoeing the Boundaries Waters in Canada, hiking the Grand Canyon, Camping at Devil's Lake), my life has been enriched by my mom's presence.
I hope to be to my children what my mom has been to me. A source of love, support, kindness, their biggest cheerleader, and a person who at the end of the day could not be prouder to be their kid's mom.
I hope this gives you a sneak peak in to the amazing woman my mom was.
Much love to all, Cara
