Sunday, May 11, 2014

Mother's Day Payoff


It's Mother''s Day and I'm back from spending the day with my kids and visiting my mom. It was a rough week leading up to today. My husband's mother passed away on Wednesday and we buried her yesterday. Today he is having the first Mother's Day without her and not a lot of time to adjust to the idea first. But he had 90 years with his precious mom and took great care of her the last year and a half of her life.

Here's the thing about being a mom. You just never know if you are doing it right. You read all the books, get advice from friends and family, then stay up all night worrying that you are ruining your children. Everyone says it's the most important job in the world. Maybe. It's the most terrifying, I know that for sure.

Those sleepless, terrifying nights are the reason that when they graduate, as many did this weekend, and tell you how much they appreciate all you did, it's the best gift ever. My daughter wrote a thank-you note after her wedding 3 years ago that contained every sentiment every parent wants to hear. Both my adult kids are wonderful about expressing their love and gratitude to my husband and me.

It makes all those hard days worth while. We did a lot of laughing this week even amid the sadness of losing a beloved grandmother.  Today is Mother's Day but I wonder if my kids know that every day the gift they give me is the gift of being themselves.

Their grandmother built bombers to help the war effort and was part of the Greatest Generation. My kids and son-in-law? I call them Generation Awesome.


My daughter who is busy organizing the world over on her blog, Organized Charm wrote the nicest tribute ever, and I'm not even dead! 10 Things I Learned from my Mom. 

So happy Mother's Day, ladies. You deserve it. Hang in there; they are paying attention.

2 comments:

  1. I commented on another post on your blog just now. I followed you from your post over on Miss Mustard Seed. Your blog has struck so many chords with me. I too lost my mom on May 2, buried her on May 6th and spend my first mother's day without her. She was 92 and also part of the greatest generation. She worked in the defense plant in Memphis TN making ammunition cannisters. I just lost my mother in law last week as well. Please send your husband my sympathy in the loss of his mom.

    Marilyn C.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So sorry for your loss and the loss of your husband. My husband handled it far better than I thought he would but 90 is a good long life. Going through his mother's things we found postcards she sent to people with pictures of the bomber she worked on in Smyrna, Tn. and lots of pictures of her young self we'd never seen. Fascinating to see her that way. Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete

Let's put the social back in social media and continue the conversation on Facebook! Check out the Pen and Hive Page.