Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

When I first became a mom, I was terrified. I really had no idea why the nurses were sending Omar and me home with a newborn baby. Did they really not know that we had absolutely NO idea what we were doing? Didn't they know we were not much more than kids ourselves? Of course we had taken every new parenting course that the hospital offered, and I had read as much as I could, but we really had no hands on experience. After a few days into to being Mom and Dad, I really wondered what had we gotten ourselves into.

That is when my mom showed up. She came right in and started doing what she does best, taking care of others. She cooked for us, cleaned for us, held the baby so we could sleep, and told us that she thought we could do it. I was never so sad to say goodbye to my mom as I was at the end of that week. I thought how in the world am I going to do this alone, everyday? That is when the years of love, encouragement, support, and nurturing that I had received from my mom kicked in.

My mom is a great care taker. Every time I make up a cozy couch bed for a child who isn't feeling well, I think of my mom. When I bring homework up to a child who has forgotten it for the 20th time, I think of how many times my mom brought items up to me at school. Even today when we go and visit her, she tries to make sure she has the type of soda we like and waffles the kids like for breakfast.

My mom has always been my number one cheerleader. She has always been cheering me on to do what ever it was that I thought I needed to be doing. She taught me how to be a mother bear. She can be one tough girl when it comes to defending her kids, grand kids, and kids-in-law . She showed us our worth by being willing to stand up to any teacher, administrator, or any other authority figure that she thought had treated us unfairly. She has always supported me . She has come to my aide a number of times when I've called her and asked her to drop everything to come and help me. She also spent years attending to the details of our lives by making sure we were signed up for CCD, and dance, and baseball, and swimming lessons, and softball, and boy scouts, and girl scouts. She made sure that our family did fun stuff like go camping, and to the movies, and to Disney World. She made every birthday so special and continues to carry that tradition on for her grand kids.

Mom, you have been such a wonderful example of what a loving and caring mom should be. I am grateful for you and I treasure you. God bless you! I love you!