There are times that you just have to steer away from the platform and speak from the heart and let the words flow. This is what this post is about today. It is in Honor of My Mom’s Birthday, but my challenge is how and where to begin. Let’s just get started….

My mom … I remember her having a little blue VW Bug and that was my all-time favorite car she drove. She would take and put all 4 of us kids in the backseat of that little car and we would FLY down the road like we owned it. It was shiny and it was new and I loved that little car. However, my dad did not share my love or my moms and the little blue bug went to another home. He told my mom she was gonna kill us all in that little car the way she drove (she was my hero and I loved how she drove it) … hence this must be where I acquired my driving skills.

My mom … I remember her working three jobs. She had a little beauty shop by our house, she worked at the nursing home from 11pm – 7 am many days and she drove a little dump truck. She would take that little dump truck and pass up all those other drivers and head straight to the dirt pit. It didn’t matter how wet it was, or how hot it was, or how cold it was … She drove it. All this was done while she was still keeping up the house, feeding the animals and taking care of us all. That little truck was not the best truck but it help feed 4 little kids and pay the bills when dad could not get in the pit with the other equipment. Again, my mom is my hero and i hope she realizes how much we appreciated her hard work.

My mom … she always had time to listen and I promise you she could have been a psychiatrist if she had wanted too. She could also probably have made a lot of money if she wrote a book about all the “stories” she was told by everyone. She could and still does keep those stories to herself. She is the ultimate confidant to everyone.

My mom … the caretaker. As a child, never did I get into a bed that was not made (with corners tucked and everything). As a child I may not have had the fanciest of cloths, but I can assure you they were pressed and clean. We had a full stomach each night and she and dad may not eat, but us kids surely did. Not only us 4 kids but any and every other child in the neighborhood was always welcomed with a plate at the table and a hug and even a pallet on the couch if they needed it. That is just how things were. Our house was the gathering place for so many when I was growing up. For her sacrifice I am eternally grateful, to my mom … my hero.

My mom … she could make a point and you understood it clearly. We had a little black and white TV for a while, and then we didn’t have TV for several years. This is how things worked at our house. Mom came through the living room one day after school and she told us to go do our outside chores. We were engrossed in something on our little black and white TV and we said OK, but we didn’t move. She came back through a second time and again, she told us to go do our chores… to that we replied OK and we did not move again. Well, the third time was not so pretty. She slowly walked up to the little black and white TV that we all loved so much with a glass of water. She just turned that glass of water over and poured it directly into that TV, right in front of us, right in the middle of our show and we were devastated. She in her “you get it” voiced said, “Well I suppose you can do your chores NOW”. I tell you we could not believe she did that and she just went right back to the kitchen and cooking supper like nothing had happened. I tell you what, we did go do those chores, and we did our home work and we did not watch TV for several years. There was only one little TV in our house and it had just taken a bath. My mom … the suttle point maker.

My mom … she did not accept excuses. One of the phrases I remember as a kid was: if “ifs” and “buts” were berries and nuts we would all have a Merry Christmas. When you went to her, you better have your stories straight. You better be truthful and You better know she would fight for you like a wildcat. If you were right you were right and if you were wrong you were wrong. As a child that may have been a bit hard to take, but as an adult it was the best way to make us kids better people. My mom … she was and is the wisest person I know.

I am blessed to have her as my mom….there is no way that I can every repay her for all that she has done for me in my lifetime. We have always been welcome at her house with a hug, an “I love you” and a warm meal. She is the glue that keeps us strong and she is the person I go to for that wise word and that straight answer.

Life was not always easy for my mom. She lost her dad at a young age and was raised by my hard working Nannie. She married my dad young, and life in the country can be very challenging to say the least. The fancy stuff and the conveniences were not there, but she still made our house a home. As we celebrate my mom’s birthday today, I pray she knows just how special she is to us all.

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#supermom