Today, and every year, we celebrate Mother's Day. Over the years I've come to realize that as more and more time passes from transitioning from childhood to adulthood, my respect, admiration, appreciation, and love grows immensely for my mother.
What can I say about my mom? She is brave in the face of pain and worry. She is strong in times when she should be weak. She is not someone to speak out about her own discomforts or annoyances, but she is someone who listens to mine on days good and bad.
I know that I could talk forever about all the best qualities of my mom, but I'm going to continue a tradition from growing up. Each birthday and Mother's/Father's Day, all of us in our family share the thing we most appreciate about the person we are celebrating; usually, it's something we've really come to notice in the last year.
So mom: the thing I most love and appreciate about you this year is your steadiness. I love that I can tell you what I'm going through, and your first response is not to scold, be angry, or lecture; it's that you are praying for me. I love that I can share with you exactly what's going on, knowing that you can not only handle it, but that you'll turn around and encourage me to do the right thing, and to follow the Lord.
I spent a lot of my childhood as a drama queen, and everything was SUCH a big deal. You are the opposite, and I love you for it. When I hurt my shoulder longboarding, you didn't go on and on about how I should never have gotten on a board. You just showed up for a weekend where I slept almost the entire time, armed with your homemade chicken pot pies, and sat and watched TV with me for hours. When I called you a few months ago, upset over something that someone did for me, you got mad with me, and then we got over it together. You can talk me through anything and everything, and you do so with love and a whole lot of patience.
This past summer, Nathan and I went through so many medical struggles. I remember distinctly, 3 days after I had surgery, Nathan had to drive us to the emergency room because he couldn't breathe. I was still on heavy painkillers and couldn't think straight for the pain and through the medicine, and I remember feeling like it was all just too much to handle. I couldn't do it.
And then I thought about you, and what you would do. And I took a deep breath, prayed, and sat with Nathan while we waited for so many test results. You are steady, and you give me steadiness. When life feels too big to handle, I think of all that you would say and all that you've been through that probably seemed too big to handle at the time, and I know I'll be ok because you somehow got through it all.
I love you, Mom. Thank you for the example you set, and the legacy you are leaving. Happy Mother's Day.
