Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is a special day! What makes it so special? Well, it is my mom's birthday. Ya see, my mom and dad are my heroes. I could probably write forever about my parents. Don't worry...I won't. I will say this about my mother:

I owe everything I am to her. She is a very intelligent, unselfish woman who gave up working outside the home to raise her 5 children. When I was in school, I saw my mom all the time because she volunteered at school...ALL THE TIME. She went on school field trips, helped out in the office, worked Sunday School, worked all the school fundraisers, etc. In high school, I played sports all year long. She was at every one of my games. She was not one of those obnoxious "yell and scream at the coaches and players" parents. She sat quietly and cheered for everybody. When we played softball in the cold, she went during the game to buy hot chocolate for the entire team. She brought her father and my dad's mother home to live with us when my aunts and uncles wanted to place them into nursing homes. I can remember watching her play cards and scrabble with my grandparents at night after dinner (which she always made). After I left for college, she painted the outside and wallpapered the inside of our two story house, all by herself. She would also get up on top of the house to clean out the gutters. When I was in my 20's, my parents divorced. I won't go into the details, however, my mom ended up taking care of my 4 sisters while working two, sometimes three, jobs. She worked the "red-eye" shift in the ER of the hospital and cleaned houses when she got off work. She worked the "red eye" shift because she wanted to make sure she was home by the time my sisters got home from school. She still works in the ER, however, now she babysits my niece and nephew on her days off, while my sister works.

I could go on and on about my mom, however, I will just say that she is an amazing woman who has NEVER given up. She is stronger than anyone I know(although, I think that Barbara Spencer is right there with her!). I only hope that some day I will be half the person she has always been. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!! I love you and miss you and hope you have a wonderful day.

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."

-- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)