Mother’s Day

This is my first Mother’s Day without my mom. She passed away last August. We had seen her health problems and decline, and had an idea that it was coming, but nothing really prepares you for that moment.

Before she passed away, we were able to celebrate my parents’ 71^stwedding anniversary and had just celebrated her 90^th birthday. She was so excited about this birthday. When she told people that it was coming up, she thought it was amusing to see their surprise when she announced that she was turning 100.

She had an infectious laugh and a fun-loving personality. She seldom lost her temper.

She began working as a switchboard operator for a telephone company when she was eighteen years old. Before retiring, she held a number of different positions with this company. After retirement, she went on to work as a loan officer for a local university.

She spent most of her married life as a military wife. She was a devoted mother of four who set an example for each of us by the way she lived her life.

She loved to sew. As I grew up, she made most of our school, prom, and bridesmaid dresses. She didn’t always follow a pattern. She was known to make up her own patterns.

She crocheted Afghans for all her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed making crafts to share with others.

She loved to cook. She will especially be remembered for the tasty desserts that she made at Christmas, a tradition that continued even after she was no longer supposed to have sugar herself.

As long as she was able, her home was a gathering place for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren on birthdays and holidays. She relished her role as hostess.

She enjoyed recounting stories about her childhood. They brought her joy and became treasures to her family.

She valued her faith, and she loved studying the Bible and taking part in her church’s senior adult class.

She fiercely guarded the secrets that her adult grandchildren shared with her.

We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but we always knew that her love and prayers were covering us.

Even though we miss her physical presence every day, we will hold on to the memories and always be grateful for the legacy that she left behind.

“Losing a Mother doesn’t happen in a moment. It takes years to appreciate the impact of what’s gone.” ~Lisa Jo Baker

One of my favorite memories of Mother’s Day is of my Mom going out to our rose bush on Sunday morning to select a special red rosebud for each of her kids to wear to church. A red rose is worn on Mother’s Day by those whose mother is still alive and a white rose is worn by those whose mother has passed away. I didn’t realize at the time the significance of the color red, but now as a Mom and a Grandma, I look back with a thankful heart to have had her guiding hand and influence in my life all the years that I was growing up — to have had her wisdom and counsel during the years that I was raising my own kids — and now to have her friendship and listening ear as our kids have obtained their own independence. Thank you, God, for Moms.

“I am, for the most part, who I am because my good mother was who she was.” ~Richelle E. Goodrich