05/13

Happy Mother’s Day

Mother’s day is the one day a year when moms truly get to take off. I can remember being a little girl and my father taking me to the store to pick out a special gift for my mom. I wasn’t able to really think past what any other 4 year old thinks about and really could only see my mom liking a gift she could use in her daily household chores.

My mom spent so much time in the kitchen, cleaning and making our home a great place that my young mind just assumed that she must enjoy doing all of those things. I liked playing dress up so I did it as much as I could. It was only logical.

Year after year I would end up getting my mom something like a dish towel or pot holder with a tacky bear on it making pastries. Or a fancy waffle iron that I was just sure she’d get a kick out of. Who wouldn’t love making me Micky Mouse waffles every morning? I’d wake up on Mother’s Day and could barely contain my excitement as I was giving my mom her gift.

And God bless my mother, she used to always hem and haw over my gifts. They were always “just what I wanted!” She was always so gracious even when I’m sure that inside her head she was thinking, “Really Molly? Another dish towel?”

Just thinking back to the excitement and love my mom showed me over a lame Mother’s Day gift really sums up who my mom is. She is a thoughtful, caring woman who always put my feelings and needs above her own. She was a hard worker, so hard that I never noticed that the tasks she was doing might not be something she really enjoyed doing.

She was someone who constantly encouraged me to believe in myself and stand strong in my convictions. She was someone who, despite what was right in front of them, always saw the good in people.

It is because of her that I am the woman I am today and I can only hope that I pass along that same sense of love to my son. That and that he doesn’t buy me dish towels every year for mothers day.