All that I am or ever hope to be,
I owe to my angel mother.
-Abraham Lincoln
Abe Lincoln may have beat me to the punch,
but he's not the only one who feels this way.
Today,I wanted to write
about all of the things
I have learned from my mother.
As I started to think about it,
the list in my head got longer and longer.
There is no way one post would suffice,
so I will just touch on one.
One very important thing.
My mom did not have a particularly easy life.
She was from a very large family
with a very meager income.
Her father struggled with alcoholism,
which left her mother
to carry much of the burden of raising a family
on her own.
With finances so tight at home,
Mom moved out on her own
when she was just 14 years old.
She worked at a local ice cream shop
and lived in a hotel room across the street.
She worked hard to provide for herself,
taking some of the pressure
off her own mother's shoulders.
Mom left school early
and married at age 16.
Two years later
she started a family of her own.
A very large family.
Nine children were privileged
to call her Mom.
Over the years I have watched her
bake thousands of loaves of bread,
bottle infinite jars of fruit,
do endless loads of laundry,
sew countless articles of clothing,
and still manage
to have Dad's lunch on the table at noon.
(with a pickle on the side)
Along the way,
she lost her father to alcoholism
and two brothers at an early age.
Later in life
she lost her mother and two sisters.
And, more recently
she lost her oldest son.
She has been a pillar of strength
through all of these
and countless other trials in life.
So, what is the most important thing
I have learned from my mother?
It's this....
YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS.
I have come from a long line
of women who have proven this.
Nobody is exempt from hardships in life,
that's for sure.
But, I can do hard things.
For generations,
the women in my family
have had to carry more than their share
of heavy burdens.
Sometimes I feel like their strength
has filtered down to me and my sisters.
Through all of their examples,
and especially my mom's
I have gathered strength
to face my own challenges in life.
Thanks Mom, for teaching me
such an important life-lesson.
And for showing me
how to love unconditionally along the way.
I hope you have a
Happy Mother's Day.
I love you!!
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