Today my little Mamma turns 70 years old. What an accomplishment! My brother is coming over on Sunday and we're gonna grill up some burgers and love on her a little bit. She'd rather have a grilled hamburger than most anything on the menu, so we're delighted to provide her favorite. She has for sure been a life-saver for me in so many ways over the years. She has virtually hung a sign on her door that says "Bring me your tired, your weary..." Well, maybe not exactly that... but she has sure gone far above and beyond in her support of me and my little family, including having Whit and I move back home on two occasions. When Whitney and I moved back to town, she was Daycare, Taxi-Mom, Cook, Cheerleader, Homework Monitor, Cupcake Maker, all rolled up into one little stick of dynamite. She absolutely spoiled me rotten... when I would go by to pick up Whitney after work, my dinner would be on the table waiting for me, and she wouldn't even let me help clean up. (So it is all HER fault that I now have a reputation of not being able to cook... it was all those years of not having to cook.... I just got out of practice...) Later, when we needed a short-term safe place to stay, she cleaned out her closets and moved us back in. She has cleaned my house, cooked for us, sewn and shopped for us, and been Grandma Extraordinaire for over two decades. And now that she's a Great-Grandma, her legacy has continued, and again she has been a life-saver. During all of Leyland's sicknesses and hospitalizations, she and my dad have accompanied and driven them to so many doctor appointments that the nurse recognizes her when she sees her at the mall! She has rocked crying babies and changed dirty diapers for more years than most would ever think about. She and Pop have baby-sat thousands of hours on end, and never once complained about having to chase babies and clean up poop and vomit.
While occasionally generous with unsolicited advice (but don't you think she has deserved that right???), I have found, as I have grown older, that she really is a pretty smart gal. We're lucky, my mom and me, in that we found our way through the turbulent teenage years when I convinced myself that she was the most horrible creature on the planet (and she probably felt the same way about me), and have come out on the other side the best of friends. We don't always agree even now, but have learned to respect our differences, and each other. And it is so funny... during those turbulent years, I always said "I will never be like my mother".... but now having been a mother and grandmother my ownself, I am surprised to find that... I am turning into my mother! Maybe not as "bad" in some ways, but certainly not as good in others. At any rate, today is her special day, and I am so blessed to have had her as my mom. Happy Birthday Mom!! I love you!! cat
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