Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I know I'm lucky. I know that my relationship with my mom is not always how it is with mother's and daughters. I know that now. I didn't always know that. I assumed that every mother and daughter were as close as I was with my mom. Turns out that's not the case.  For those daughters and mothers, I am sad.

This woman I am proud and honored to call my friend and my mother. We haven't always been friends, I was a teen ager at one time after all. Though the way I remember it I was an angel of a teenager...

This woman worked her whole life. I don't remember a single time in our lives where she was a "stay home mom". I was a latch key kid, because she worked. She worked so we had a pretty decent life.

This woman was a teacher. Not by trade, but by the fact that she was a mom. She taught me so many things that I can barely even think where to begin the list. I can clean my house because of her. I can do my own laundry because of her. I can cook because of her (and dad but mostly her). I can carry on a conversation with people and not be disrespectful because of her (if you know my mom you know how she reacts to disrespectful children...). She taught me manners. She taught me how to have a strong work ethic. And the list goes on.

This woman was a nurse. I'm a horrible sick person. I whine and am not fun to be around. This woman though hopped on a plane and flew immediately to Seattle when I was hospitalized in the early 2000's for blood clots. There was nothing that was going to stop her from being by my side and taking care of me. She did the same thing again in 2009.

This woman is a care giver. She not only took care of dad as he lived his last years. He wasn't a pleasant person as the Alzheimer's took hold, but she stood by his side and took care of him until his dying day.

This woman is a therapist. I can't count the number of times I've bounced things off her. Or cried on her shoulder because some uncaring boy didn't love me. Or cried because I lost a cat. Or needed a sounding board to help me make decisions - not that I always followed her advice.

Suffice it to say, she's been a bit of everything. She's retired now and while she lives in Tucson and I love in Seattle, we talk several times a week. I can't ever imagine not hearing her voice on the other side of a phone.

So thanks mom for all you've done and for helping shape me into the woman I am today.