my mom

i have this mom, and she is not just any mom. i am sure that all of you reading this would think that you too have one of these moms...the kind that isn't just ordinary, the kind that should be the model on which all moms should base their mommyness, but i am telling you, you don't have that mom...i do.

let me try to capture my mom in words;

when in school, my mom was the one who drove and participated in every school field trip, and i mean every. there is not one time i don't remember having my mom there, and in a great way...until i did something that required her to look at me with those "no nonsense" eyes. she was the mom who back combed robin millers hair, she was in the lunch room (because she was also on the school parent teacher committee) to hear that i had suggested to the public health nurse that sperm just walked across the bed and into the mommy, she and mr. noren made up for every other parent that had to come on school trips.

when running for the bus in the morning, my mom listened to me bang the front door and watched me frown at her every morning as if it were somehow her fault that i was about to miss my school bus, but still she made me my lunch every day all the way through to grade twelve.

she is the kind of mom who found us a new piano teacher after hearing that the first one would slam our fingers under the lid to the keys and walk away from us getting his wife to finish the lesson. never did she question the fact that perhaps her kids didn't practice enough, instead she stood strong beside our case and found us a teacher who, well, had other faults, but we could live with.

at least twice a week, my mom drove more than thirty minutes into town to take us to church, pioneer girls, or youth group, which were all activities that she also volunteered with.

when she wasn't sure her love alone could protect me, she followed behind me slowly in her car, while i rode my bicycle to school.

she had my back when i decided to play the tenor sax and then diligently listened to my woes when i wouldn't carry it "all" the way home because it was so big and banged against the backs of my legs.

when i became involved in musicals in grade seven, my mom drove me to every practice, dress rehearsal and show for the next six years, even attending more shows than any other parent and encouraging me in a job well done.

in dealing with boys, she would read my letters from camp about a boy named scott and smile when i gushed over him at home. she was the first person i phoned when he asked me to be his girlfriend. she encouraged me to let him grow in the Lord when he broke up with me and was disappointed in me for talking about other boys when i went to switzerland. she was the first person to know we were engaged and is a constant source of praise about my wonderful husband.

she is the mom who after hearing from me in the morning that penelope was born two weeks early, drove across on the ferry to spend a few hours with us before having to go to work the next day.

these are the kind of qualities that make up my mom. this is the kind of love and commitment she makes to her kids. she makes sure that everyday we know she loves us...beyond a shadow of a doubt.

so every once in a while we celebrate her.

we celebrate her loveliness, we celebrate her beauty, we celebrate her years.

this was for her sixtieth year.

tea at butchard gardens with some ladies that are dear to her heart.

some friends and family, some ladies who have walked with my mom, some women who encouraged her and uplifted her during moments of her life. this is that look...the "no nonsense" one, except here it is done in fun, when it is for real it is a bit different. after tea was cake with family family photos of grandparents with four granddaughters and two great-granddaughters and so i say thank you. thank you to my auntie pat, who work long hours on this quilt for my mom for the past two years. i can't tell you how thrilled she was with it.thank you to my grandma for encouraging us as we planned this celebration, who stood beside us in our decisions and who talked on the phone with us until the operator told us to stop calling. thank you to my sister who helped to put this all together, who values and cares for, and who loves our mom dearly. thank you to the ladies who came and made this day possible, thank you for celebrating our mom with us and letting her know just how beautiful and wonderful she really is.