A Love Letter for my Mom

I thought over and over about what this next blog post would be about. I have tons of witty, interesting stories to tell, but I just kept coming back to the same thing.

I’ve decided to dedicate this blog post to my Mom.

Here’s why:

I was a pain in the… neck. I had the worst attitude, especially during my teen years, but I always knew she loved me. Even when I thought SHE was a pain in MY neck. (Really. I cringe at some of the behavior I remember. I was never a rule breaker; I was just rude and selfish. I can’t decide if that is better or worse.)

Oh, the things we learn once we become parents.

She loves Michael Jackson. Loves him. It is one of the funniest things about her. One of my earliest memories is her cleaning the house with MJ turned up really loud. She was singing along.

She rocks out. Any pop music is appreciated. She dances, and snaps her fingers, and plays karaoke on the Wii… and she has no shame. The lady belts that music out.

She buys me little presents, just because she thinks I will like them. Usually clothes, because she knows I don’t buy any for myself.

I look just like her.

She digs in the garden. Her house is surrounded by shrubs, trees, and flowers.

She can name the flowers she has.

She lets my girls dig with her, and she knows every flower they have planted. Then when we are outside with her, she points them out and tells us all how wonderful they are doing because they were specially planted.

She lets me borrow her clothes. While some of them are a little too conservative for me… she also has some awesome ones. I sometimes wonder if she buys clothes with me or my sister in mind, because many times, when I borrow something, it still has the tags on it. Hmmm sneaky…

She once drove six miles to my house, in the middle of her dinner, to kill a huge spider for me.

She sometimes babysits my kids, just so I can have a break.

She was a strict parent. I thank God for that every single day.

She kicked her nail biting habit.

She also kicked her cigarette habit.

She takes literally thousands of pictures every year. Probably tens of thousands. She can produce pictures from any even she has attended in the last 10 years.

She once danced at a wedding with purple satin gloves on her feet.

My cousin Kate called her Auntie Daddy for years, because she was with my aunt when Kate was born. When the doctor asked who should hold Kate, my mom said, "give her to me, I'm the daddy." The name stuck.

She was also called Auntie TeeWee when she was about 13, because my cousin Shelly couldn't say her r's. That name has stuck for... many years and my cousin Shelly still uses it. (don't worry mom, I won't say exactly how many years)

She flew out of state multiple times when my sister and I had our babies.

She walks every year in the March of Dimes "March for Babies". She spends the rest of the year gathering money to donate.

She loves her grandkids without reservation.

She loves her children without reservation.

She worked every day of my life so that I could have everything I needed.

When money was short, she used credit cards for Christmas and Birthdays and back to school shopping. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized she must have paid down those bills just in time for the next holiday. I always assumed we had enough.

She made me believe we always had enough. I never knew she worried, even though she must have. She let me be a kid.

She married a guy that drove me crazy. He was the bane of my existence while I was growing up. He was also one of my biggest supporters, and still is. The man would walk through fire for me. She realized it, even when I didn’t.

Here is the biggest reason this post is dedicated to my Mama.

She loves me. It doesn’t matter if I am sweet, mean, skinny, fat, lazy, funny, annoying, rude, happy, or a pain in the neck. I have never for one moment ever doubted my mom’s love for me. She is a rock when I need one, a shoulder to cry on, a pain in the neck, and absolutely 100% lovely.

And I bet she is crying right now.

I Love you Mom!