(130) Mom, This one's For You

I want to take today to thank my mother for all that she has given me. She, like most mothers, give more than they receive. To be a mother takes many attributes that are not easily attainable. Take stamina for instance. When you are a mother, you are in it for the long haul. My mother continues to parent even to this day; she is available to me whenever I have important questions like how to make her Chicken and Noodles or for the really big issues like how to parent (or not parent) a grown son. She also has that important quality of hope and courage, which I lack so often, falling into fear and doom. I have to admit I often think of her when faced with a challenge which seems overwhelming at first. My motto (and that of my sister as well) is “What would Mom do?” (WWMD) I can remember mom herself tell me that she often says to herself, “What would my mother do?” when faced with a challenge. Maybe this is what happens to girls when they become mothers themselves. We keep the mother voice in our head so that we have someone to encourage us to carry on. My mother is an endlessly positive person. She always meets challenges with optimism and strength. Everything has a solution, everything is possible. When I was in graduate school, I had a professor that told me that everything was an opportunity. My mother sees the world like this as well. When I listen to Gracie the hawk, I also know that mother hawks are strong and forever encouraging. Imagine having a brood every year like Gracie does? She goes through the same process with her new babies every single year. Personally, I’d quit. I’d tell George that I want to retire, quit the business and take the first flight to Arizona! But Gracie has what most mothers have, what my mother has, she’s got patience, love and fortitude. Even in the midst of a crisis. My parents (who are vacationing in Idaho) told me a story of their Osprey that lives high up on a platform on the trail near them. Last week, the area was hit with high winds and a microburst that knocked out the electricity for two days. The winds were in excess of 70 miles per hour. When the rains had passed, and my parents were back walking the trail, they saw the Osprey, up on the cleared platform, just standing, looking down at them with the remains of the nest and broken eggs on the ground. My mother said the Osprey looked so forlorn and lost. I’ll bet a hundred dollars that Osprey will rebuild right on that very platform. Persistence! Strength to go forward! I want some of that! So, On this day of my birth, I want to say thank you to my mother who, along with my father, brought me into this world with courage and believed that I could do anything I could dream of doing. Mom, This one’s for you. Check out the Canna Lilies that are now in bloom! Beautiful aren’t they?