Happy Mother's Day

A day for spending with your mom, remembering your mom, loving your children, petting your furry pet babies. It's a day for moms of all types.
I've been blessed, I was raised by an amazing mother, who also was raised by an amazing mother. My mother gave me the love, freedom and support to be myself, to follow an unconditional path, to make mistakes, to keep on trying. No matter what, I know that my mother will be there, by my side...to hold my hand...to pick me up...to wipe my tears...to cheer me on...to encourage my crazy...to laugh at my moxy.

Having a wonderful mother showed me that motherhood is life's greatest joy. At 22 years old, when I dropped out of college to have my own baby I wasn't scared or cautious, I just became a mother. Now as my baby is about to turn 18 years old and start a life on his own, my days of motherhood are changing...but still I learn everyday from my Mom about how to be a mother.

So today as we celebrate moms, I celebrate the moms who made a difference in my life. Thank you.

1. My Mom. She is my comfort, my counsel. She combined a career with motherhood, family, service, and friendship. My love of travel and parties comes from her. I am athletic because we biked, skied, swam, sailed and played together. She surrounds herself with people who make her happy and reminds me that life is short, take chances, make your own happiness. If there is beauty she finds it, if friends are alone she invites them, what she has she shares, what she knows she teaches. She is who I want to be. Pure love.

2. Grandma MeMe. Strong, ahead of her time, earthy, funny, friendly, a devoted wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend. I remember her beautiful hands, her laugh, when she fell asleep watching 80's sitcoms in her bean bag chair, her legendary family recipes, rocking on her porch swing, stopping by the Mexican restaurant near the beach in Gulfport Florida after a day of swimming with my friends to find her drinking beer at the bar with her friends. She hung my son's tiny baby sock in her bedroom and would have loved that he is now a giant man of 6'6. She loved all my boyfriends. She wrote me lots of letters. She told me I was beautiful and I believed her.

3. Sharon. Oh her love for life. Her beauty. Her courage. Her kindness to me when I needed it most. Her ability to multitask with 4 children so she never missed a game, a dance, a party. We were almost sister-in-laws as we loved 2 brothers, she was my maid of honor but died 4 months before my wedding. As our sons who are good friends get ready for prom and high school graduation next month, I miss her more and more, we would have had such fun watching our babies leave the nest. I see you there my friend, near the fireplace.

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving