This is such a great thing to blog about-being a mom, having a mom, knowing a mom. I never knew about this club until I had kids. Most profoundly, I never know how much my mom loved me, I just knew how much I loved and needed her. Much has been said, written, painted, sung, argued over, laughed about, cried over, thought about and blogged about when it comes to this subject.
So, here is my little entrant. My mom is one of those people that is hard to forget, she just leaves a mark on you. Growing up she was always everyone's favorite mom. She has a smile that just lights up a room, and she reminds me of everything kind and good about my childhood. She is never mean spirited or critical-she sees the good in people and most circumstances. She has a great sense of compassion. She embodies unconditional love-most likely to a fault. She has a selfless nature, and a fiercly loyal and protective quality that I so appreciated as her child. She was always on my side.
As an adult, I have gotten to see so many of her great qualitites through my children's eyes. She loves to color, and knows the words to every nursery rhyme. She always knows the shows, the names of all the characters, pretty much everything they are into at that moment. She talks to and listens to them. She is a walking Disney encyclopedia. She loves peanut butter jelly sandwiches, hot dogs and fritos and going to the zoo. She will do puzzles on the floor and read books all day long. She will play their video games, and play with their friends and classmates. She gets to know all their names. She loves to go swimming, and will brave a water park on a busy day just to see their sweet smiles and hear their laughter. She bakes cakes with them, and she makes the world's best milkshakes, rice and eggs and pancakes. She doesn't worry herself with coloring in the lines, tedious details, clean up, rules, and other such things. She is just a free spirit who is like a breath of fresh air. She has a very special quality when it comes to children. Recently, she was working in Tyler's room with me at school. In about 10 minutes time, I look over, and nearly every kid in the class has flocked to her while she is on the floor building elaborate train stations with them. She is 60 years old. Unbelievable.
So, here is my little entrant. My mom is one of those people that is hard to forget, she just leaves a mark on you. Growing up she was always everyone's favorite mom. She has a smile that just lights up a room, and she reminds me of everything kind and good about my childhood. She is never mean spirited or critical-she sees the good in people and most circumstances. She has a great sense of compassion. She embodies unconditional love-most likely to a fault. She has a selfless nature, and a fiercly loyal and protective quality that I so appreciated as her child. She was always on my side.
As an adult, I have gotten to see so many of her great qualitites through my children's eyes. She loves to color, and knows the words to every nursery rhyme. She always knows the shows, the names of all the characters, pretty much everything they are into at that moment. She talks to and listens to them. She is a walking Disney encyclopedia. She loves peanut butter jelly sandwiches, hot dogs and fritos and going to the zoo. She will do puzzles on the floor and read books all day long. She will play their video games, and play with their friends and classmates. She gets to know all their names. She loves to go swimming, and will brave a water park on a busy day just to see their sweet smiles and hear their laughter. She bakes cakes with them, and she makes the world's best milkshakes, rice and eggs and pancakes. She doesn't worry herself with coloring in the lines, tedious details, clean up, rules, and other such things. She is just a free spirit who is like a breath of fresh air. She has a very special quality when it comes to children. Recently, she was working in Tyler's room with me at school. In about 10 minutes time, I look over, and nearly every kid in the class has flocked to her while she is on the floor building elaborate train stations with them. She is 60 years old. Unbelievable.
I like to think I got some of her attributes, though I am a slighter more uptight version of her. I know she is not perfect, but she sure is to me. I hope someday my kids will look at me the way I view her. I have come to learn that not everyone gets so lucky to have a relationship like this with his/her mother; and for that I am even more overwhelmed. It is a timeless thing, this motherhood. And I am so happy for mine!
I know I am a better person for knowing Dana. She was a greeat influence on me as a teenager. She was great at articulating all the things my mom couldn't and making me feel better about myself. She wasn't just my favorite mom, she was like my mom sometimes. Thanks for the awesome story, Ters.
ReplyDelete-Jules Langston
Thanks for reading it! I will have to let my mom know you said that. It will make her feel so good!
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky kids to have our mom. I wish I could add something to your description of the amazing woman who raised us and taught us how to be good and loved us when we were sad and held us when we were scared.
ReplyDeleteSeeing her with her grand babies is a gift I cherish more with every passing year. Watching Lisa's kids grow into adults I see how much they've been influenced by her... how many 16 year old boys do you know who love to go visit their grandmother for no other reason than love?
For us it was always such an occasion to see our Nanny since she lived so far away, but they live so close and still want to carve out time to visit her! I envy them for having their Nanny so close and for having my Mama so much more than I do!