My Mom

As I sit here watching my boy chill in his bouncy chair (Thanks Auntie!!), I again marvel at the miracle that he is.  And am amazed that any single mom or dad was/is able to do this parenting thing on their own.  Therefore, in honor of Grandparents Day (which was the 12th but I have a baby so I figure I get a couple of days leeway), I am dedicating this post to my mom.

My mom "officially" became a single mom when I was 10.  She pretty much did all of the raising before that, too, because my dad, though wonderful to me, didn't like little kids much at that time.  He preferred teenagers & older.  Anyway.

She managed to send us to camps.  From Girl Scout to Space Camp and dozens in between we got to go & experience life beyond tiny McCall, Idaho.  We went to Broadway shows on tour down in Boise.  By the time I was 15 I think I had been to 5 or 10.  We were in plays, danced ballet and tap, were in band and did pretty much anything we dreamed to do.  

Oh - and did I mention Mom managed to do all this after having open heart surgery in 1980 and several heart attacks after 1986?  Add in Graves' disease and you start marveling about my mom, too.  

Mom always made sure we knew were loved.  Even when we made her so angry she turned all purple and sputtered, we knew we were loved.  She is an official Grandma to 6 - my Duncan, Mary's Thomas & Adam and Joe's JJ, Lisa & Eileen.  She's a step-great-grandma many times over.  And she was a nanny for many families in McCall and those kids consider her all theirs, too.  

It's funny.  Almost every time I see her now she tells me how proud she is of me and that I'm a great Mom.  Well, I learned from the best, Mom.  You made me who I am today and I couldn't ask for a better role model.  

I love my mom and hope she knows how much.  I wouldn't trade her for all the tea, coffee and chocolate on the planet.  She knows how much that is :)

Maybe I should've waited until Mother's Day to post this.  Oh well.