Happy Mother's Day

Being a Mom has always been really high on my agenda. Which isn't necessarily surprising I suppose. I'm no different from a lot of women. If you know anything about me you know I'm close to my Mom. She's amazing. She's my hero and she's always my Mom. I know a lot of people say their Mom is their best friend, not mine. At least I wouldn't say she is. I have best friends. I have girl friends that I can bitch on the phone too, have lunch with, catch a movie with, compare parenting war stories with or msn a night away with. Now I can and do all of those things with my Mom, but it's different. If I'm bitching to her on the phone she doesn't automatically take my side. In fact I may even invite a lecture or at the very least some suggestions about how I could have changed my behaviour. We definitely catch lunch, but she usually pays. Ditto the movies. I do share my parenting war stories, but in comparison she usually snickers and says something about apples not falling far from trees, payback's a bitch or some such nonsense. And as for the msn thing, well it's more of a young person's game, in fact it's very likely that I'm too old to be doing it.

We were still a young family when we lost my Dad and my Mom really had to step up to the plate. She had to be more, way more that she was ever anticipating. She had to be everything. Maybe she wasn't all the time. Maybe she didn't feel it all the time. Maybe sometimes she faltered. Maybe sometimes she cursed her fate. Maybe sometimes she was just angry because it was all supposed to be easier than this. But you know what? I never knew it. Having kids of my own now and a husband to help I marvel at what it took for her to "go it alone".

The years went by, I got older, got married and inherited two new Moms (and a Dad). Those ladies had a lot to live up to. My Mom had set the bar pretty high, but I got lucky. So very lucky. Mother-in-law jokes need not apply here. They have never made me feel any thing less than part of the family. An integral part of the family. We have shared tears of grief and the joy of laughter. They've seen me at my best and my worst and loved me all the same. I've have been blessed. I couldn't have wished for any better.

To my Moms I wish you the happiest of Mother's Days. Thank you for all that you do. You are some of the greatest gifts in my life and the lives of your granddaughters. I love you.