Happy Mother's Day

Mother's day was officially declared by Woodrow Wilson in 1914. It is the only thing that I think he did that was right (at least when it came to women). Now, I'll step off that soap box to talk a little about my mother.

What is it about mothers and daughters? Some of us seem to have this crazy relationship. I'm pretty lucky in my relationship with my mom. We went from a mother/daughter relationship to a friend/friend relationship back when I was in my early 20's. I credit my mom with giving me a sense of the absurd.

The craziest things seemed to happen to my mom. My children were raised on tales of what Grandma did.

• Danced on a bar in Cancun Mexico when she was about 68 years old.
• Hiked 30 miles in New Zealand wearing a 25 pound backpack with her older sister. My mom was 61 and her sister was 71 years old. Did I mention that she had never done anything like this before. Or since mind you! This is the same trip that she was supposed to go bungy jumping but she wussed out. I can only applaud her for that decision!
  
• Spent 3 months at a mission in Uganda without running water, power or phone. (I'm sure she missed the phone most of all). She was in her 60's.
  
• She slipped getting out of the bathtub at a resort; ended up breaking her big toe and getting a staph infection.
• One snowy day (when I was a kid) she was trying to put tire chains on the car, though she'd never done it before. She ended up wrapping the chains around the axle while driving home, all the while thinking that the chains were helping her out.
• Lost her 5 year old grandson (my youngest boy) at a ski resort in Canada. BTW, he had a great time skiing with the female ski resort employee that he hooked up with (that's my boy!).
• Took all her grandkids (at the same time) white water rafting when they were teenagers. This had to actually be the craziest thing ever!

My mom may be a little on the nutty side but I'd never want to change her.

She is the most loving, sweetest, kindest, and fun loving woman I know. We've all heard that as daughters age they get more like their mothers. If I can be half as interesting as my mom I'll be lucky (without the quirkiness Thank You).

One of the things I most remember about my mom is that she spent a week at my house just after my first baby was born. Did she tell me how to be a mom, nag me, boss anyone around NO! Not my mom, she spent the whole week cleaning my house, cooking (though we tend to discourage this behavior) running errands and basically being helpful. If for no other reason I'll love her for this.

So mom for all the things that you are or are not: THANK YOU!

Love,
M