Mother's Day...

Today, while at Target for a few groceries, I passed the greeting card area. I actually paused a moment and took it all in. Little groups of children looking for that perfect card...new daddies with their little ones, perhaps choosing his wife's first Mother's Day Card, and on and on. I got so tickled at these 3 little girls trying to find that perfect card. It brought back sweet memories of years gone by. Saturday before Mother's Day at our house was like Christmas Eve. My first Mothers Day, we lived in Grinnell, Iowa and Roy took Christine to the mall in Des Moines to get that perfect gift. In the years that followed, he would get the kids up, load them in the car, usually go for breakfast somewhere and then set off for Olla Padrida, a little shopping mall in Dallas that is no longer there. He would let each one of them choose a gift, a card and wrapping materials before heading home, where they would set up a special ops room, complete with signs that read 'Mommy, do not enter...please'. Always good manners, of course. I'd hear the giggles, kids would run through looking for markers, then tape, then scissors. They'd have such a hard time not spilling the beans about the goods they had purchased. Then, very early on Sunday morning, some form of breakfast would be brought to me...usually donuts and milk...enough for everyone...and we'd all pile on the bed for a special breakfast and...the presents. Little squeals of 'mommy, open mine first' resounded until all the paper was ripped off and my little pile of treasures laid before me. Their smiles said it all...they felt victorious...they'd done it...they were so proud. Roy was very intentional about days like Mother's Day...and for me, that was gift enough. He wanted our kids to know that these days were created for making memories, and each year, that's exactly what he did.

As I grew up, Mother's Day was also a special day! My daddy would usually help us pick something out and we'd make cards for our mama. We'd go to my grannie's for a big lunch, and when I got older, I thought that was so funny because the moms did all the work! Alot of people think the greeting card companies created this day just to make money, and based on the cost of a card today, that may play into it! But I LOVE days like these. I love picking out that perfect card...and I love celebrating my mama. Some years, we are together on this
day...some years not. But no matter where we are, I celebrate her. As a little girl, I thought my mom was the most beautiful lady I'd ever seen (and she was...still is!). She always cooked dinner and we always sat down together...she never helped her plate until we were almost done eating...and years later, I realized she was waiting to make sure we'd had all we wanted. She sewed dresses for us that you could've
never matched at a department store. She made memories with each of us that we all carry today. She loves our daddy. She made sure
we knew how much God loves us...and that hard work is part of growing. When each of us got married, she worked her magic...Donna got
married in Searcy, so she loaded up the car and put on a long distance wedding, long before that was normal...she stayed up most of the
night before my wedding finishing dress alterations and preparing food...she toted her crock pot to Wisconsin for Davids wedding so she
could make pulled pork, in the hotel room, for the rehearsal dinner...she made sure there was something special for Marianne's 1st graders at her wedding. Her love for each of us is only outshined by her love for our daddy! And that's one of the most important lessons she ever taught us. Many people compare others to the woman in Proverbs 31, but seriously, that could've been written just for her.

I love how others love her too! When I go to Glen Rose to church, everyone tells me 'we love your mom and dad'. That's no surprise but it's so nice to hear. I have watched her take care of other's children...my grannie...my daddy...and 18 months ago, she stepped in and took care of me again. Roy LOVED my mama! He had lost his mom before we married, but he felt he had found another in my mom. Even though they weren't that far apart in age, she treated him like he was one of her own. When he died, she walked that road with me, and continues to do so today. She has 4 kids, 4 sons/daughters in law, 13 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, and a host of family and friends who 'arise and call her blessed'. She is an amazing woman of God, and the queen of our hearts! Happy Mother's Day, Mama...thanks for teaching us what love is...