My Mom

There are lots of reasons I hate living far from my family. One of them is because I miss their birthdays. Yesterday was my Mom's birthday and every year I miss it because we always leave after Christmas to go to Seattle. Every year she gets ripped off, because I spend more on her Christmas present and make it a birthday/Christmas present. This is my mom:

She is pretty, huh? I know. I get to look like her when I get older :)

She is holding 2 babies because she loves babies. She treats children with love and respect and like they matter just as much, if not more, than any "important" adult.

She teaches seminary at 6am every weekday morning to a bunch of 16-17 year-olds, some of which don't want to be there :) She always talks about how much she loves it and looks forward to it.

She is used to waking up early. She has woken up early since my first day of school. She made lunches for 4 kids every day so we wouldn't have to buy icky school lunch. She helped us get ready on time so we wouldn't miss the bus. And, if we did, she didn't get mad, she just drove us to school.

She was always home when we got home from school. The house was warm and welcoming because she was there, excited to see us and hear about our day.

Mom called the school when I didn't feel good enough to go, and sometimes when I did, but really couldn't deal with Junior High that day.

Mom would rub our backs, give us hugs, tell us how special we were, and do all those simple things that made us feel loved and confident.

Mom did all of those "mom things" that a lot of kids don't get because their moms are at work. Small, everyday acts, that most people don't think are very important.

All of those things were important apparently, because those are the things I remember when I think about my mom.

Thanks Mom, for all of the small, and all of the big things you did, and continue to do for me.