Today is the day that we celebrate our Mother's.
My mom use to tell us that parenting is a funny thing. Sometimes it is "ha-ha" funny right before it turns into "oh hell what do I do now" funny. (I've never figured that one out yet.)
Back when my Mom was raising us kids, her duty was to make sure we got enough to eat, went to church and knew who Jesus was, made good grades and otherwise fit into the middle of the road pattern of doing to others as they do unto you, all the while turning the other cheek.
June Cleaver didn't work "outside the home" but my Mom sure did.
She came home from the factory and worked some more making sure that our underwear was clean (Surely, you all remember the growing up famous underwear life lesson.) cooking supper, in between helping with homework and breaking up fights prior to teacher conferences and PTA meetings.
"I was the lucky one, I got the very best of both parents."
My favorite childhood memories of my mom are a mixed bag of what she was and still is.
Reflecting back through the many life lessons my mother taught me as a child, you might just see we've all been brought up pretty much the same:
* My mother taught me LOGIC,
"Because I said so, that's why."
* My mother taught me FORESIGHT,
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, you never know when you might be in an accident and have to be taken to the hospital."
* My mother taught me the QUICKEST WAY to DOUBLE MY MONEY,
"Is to fold it up and put it back in my pocket."
* My mother taught me IRONY,
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
* My mother taught me about INDIVIDUALISM,
"I bet if all your friends jumped off a bridge, you would too!"
* My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE,
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
* My mother taught me if you always tell the TRUTH,
"You won't have to remember what you said and to whom."
And my mother, bless her, taught me to listen "to my heart and to my mind and to find the narrow space of truth that lies between the two."
The older I get the more I appreciate my parents and the sacrifices they made.
My mother is a disciplined, hardworking, and an optimistic woman who always tried her hardest to instill in her children the importance of faith, family, and community.
She taught me the value of a dollar, the importance of education, and the character of an honest day's work.
She pushed me to succeed, but not fear failure.
My Mother was the most compassionate, thoughtful, and caring person I have ever known.
Mother also instilled in me how to find the good in people and to trust my instincts, stand my ground and believe in myself.
Her philosophy is a simple one, what matters most is not class or status or wealth, but a person's qualities of heart, mind and soul.
And so I have lead a life of spectacular expectations, and in truth I wouldn't have wanted it any other way now.
Thanks mom, for all those little life lessons!
Happy Mother's Day...
