Memories of Mom – Throwback Thursday

With Mother’s Day approaching, this months Throwback Thursday is dedicated to the memories of my mom. This post first appeared in May 2015 but it is one of my favorite posts ever about a woman who has meant so much to me.

When I think about my mom and the lessons I learned from her throughout my life I realize how much of my life I spent wanting to fight so hard to not be like her!  As a rebellious teen with a sharp tongue, I expected perfection from her instead of recognizing all that was good.

And y’all….there is so much good!

My mom is strong!  She taught me that a woman can take care of herself and better know how to take care of herself.  I never gave a second thought to going to college and having a skill that would allow me to earn a living.

My mom is determined!  She went back to school and received her degree when I was in college and then went on to get her masters degree.

My mom is compassionate!  The majority of her career was spent as a counselor at a junior college where she encouraged students to stay in school. She helped so many live their dreams by seeing them through vocational programs which provided them a skill to provide for their families.  When I read the cards and notes she has received from these former students I know she truly cared about each one and can only imagine that she helped to change the course of their life.

My mom is fun!  Y’all..even if she is providing the entertainment being the blond that she is my mom can always make us laugh.  She likes to have fun and is always up for whatever we drag her out to do.  Tea parties, nerf gun battles, pole dancing classes in Vegas….she’s up for it all.

My mom is beautiful!  My mom is 73 years old and she is still so beautiful.

My mom is confident!  Seriously I cannot think of a time when I ever saw my mom compare herself or our life to others.  I never saw her wish for another home or envy others extravagant vacations.  She has always been content living her life and minding her own business.  This is not to say she didn’t wish sometimes that maybe things had gone a little differently but she always had the confidence in herself that she was strong enough to make it through and a peace about her to accept the things she could not change.

My mom loves me!  As a parent myself I can not even imagine the pain I placed on my moms heart so many times.  Raising little kids is hard but going through the pain that comes with watching your children experience true heartbreak or make unwise decisions as they mature into adults is not for sissies.  Through it all I knew that I could tell her anything and she was a safe place to go because no matter what she was going to love me through it.

My mom is my biggest fan!  I know that whatever I am doing I have my own personal cheerleader thinking I am the greatest thing that ever lived.  So many times I realize I am looking for her approval to know that I am on the right track.  In fact a lot of our spats occur because of my desire to know what I’m doing is satisfactory and any comment I perceive as slightly negative will send me off the deep end.

Being a mom is the hardest work I have ever done.  Knowing so much responsibility lies in how you love and mentor those little babies and mold them into adults that then go out on their own is somewhat mind-blowing. I am definitely far from the perfect mom but I hope someday my kids look back and see that I was trying so hard to be.  I hope when they look back they will be able to look past all the not so pretty and see the good.

So grateful that God knew the perfect mom for me!

Now it’s your turn to share memories of your mom or another woman in your life who has meant so much to you. Or maybe you just want to throw things back to your life as a mom and that’s game too!