My mother and her three daughters. I’m the little one in the middle.
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I love Mother’s Day, well, really, I love May. May is a little like my own personal Christmas – one that’s all about me – since this sweet month brings blooming flowers, Mother’s Day and my birthday. I get awakening gardens, presents and flowers, cards and calls and texts. I am reminded that the world is a beautiful place and that I am loved. It’s all good.
Mom came to visit me in Monterey when I was in the Navy.
On Mother’s Day, of course, I think about my own mom, and the good things she taught me. Most importantly, she taught me to love the Lord. Certainly, that’s the most vital legacy I have from her, but there are some other things as well. She taught me how to clean and scrub and how to appreciate the smell of Pine Sol. She taught me to sew and crochet. I can’t imagine not knowing the joy these skills bring me. (Even the cleaning one, I really do like to clean!) But I’ve had other ‘moms’ – the moms of friends, who have shared knowledge, skills and outlooks with me as well. Let’s see… my friend Terrie Ann’s mom (I called her Ma) invited me along with her family on a vacation. She gave me my first encounter with an ocean- the Pacific – an unbelievably generous beginning to a lifelong love. She also helped me understand freedom and beauty by welcoming me for days on end to their ranch. My friend Lynn’s mom (always Mrs. Cole) was different from my own mother. She was younger and less serious. She taught me that moms could laugh and play and be funny and also be friends with their daughters. I haven’t seen her in years, but the pictures on FaceBook that Lynn posts of her mom assure me that she still does and is. I’m thankful for these moms and how I am a better person because of them.
