My Angel Mother

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.  -Abraham Lincoln

I've been thinking a lot about motherhood lately.  About how we are sent to this earth.  How we were all in heaven before we came and how we can be families forever after we leave.  I really have been reflecting on placement.  We all are born to earth at different times.  What if the order was different?  What if I was born to Hallie instead of I bearing her?  All that contemplation led to a realization.  It wasn't chance that I was born to my mom.  There are millions of wonderful mothers in the world.  But, that beautiful woman is the only one for me.  I needed her.  She was made for me and my brothers.

Who else could have tamed my wild thick hair into darling creations daily?  Yes, other mothers are handy with hair-dos, but they don't do it just the way that she did.  They couldn't have made me feel as loved and special in the process.  Hair time was our time.  It was when my brothers had gone to bed and it was just us talking as she patiently rolled each section into rags.  And I loved that she told me the same saying her mother told her "Beauty takes time."

What other mother could have gracefully guided me through my awkward phases?  Every girl struggles with self-esteem and self-worth.  It's natural to want to feel pretty and loved.  Let me tell you from personal experience, teeth as buck as mine were a tough break!  But she saw through those enormous enamel obstacles and nurtured me into a happy and outgoing child.  It was my personality that helped me to have lots of friends.  This greatly cut back the number of "buck beaver" comments I received.  And when I did get them, her love helped me realize that those were just words and my looks didn't define me.

                    

This mother recognized early on that I had a flair for drama.  She weathered my tantrums (and boy were they tantrums) with patience and grace.  When I sobbed to her that I knew I wasn't going to heaven because I was mean to my brothers, she told me how much my Father in Heaven and Jesus loved me and how they wanted me to live in heaven with them again.  She also told me it was okay to make mistakes and there was such a thing as forgiveness.

                    

She had to be frustrated with how much of a slob I was.  It was easier for me to swim to Hawaii and back than it was to keep my room clean for more than a day.  One day, as a teenager, she took me to the dollar store and bought me tons of containers and then helped me organize my stuff into them.  I know she was disappointed with me when my room was trashed within days.  But she didn't make me feel hopeless about it.  I always felt hope that I could change for the better (in every way).

                         

She always found time for one-on-one conversations.  She told me from the time I was very young about her faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and how she gained that testimony.  I had her personal story of conversion memorized and it helped me search on my own so that I could have the same personal affirmation.  I did and I still do.

                         

I idolized her as a child.  One day, while we were getting ready for church and I was still just three, my Mom came into the living room wearing a navy blue polka dot dress.  I will never forget how I felt seeing her in that dress.  No one was more beautiful than my mother.

                          

Some women like to remind others about the toils of motherhood.  I never once have heard my mom complain about how hard raising four children was.  She never whined. 

My mom taught me to work.  If raising four children (and tending even more during daycare years) didn't illustrate her diligence, her nursing prerequisites, RN program, BSN, and Master's degrees drove the point home. :)

I know I've admitted to being over dramatic.  But there is no overemphasizing the fact that my mother is an angel.  My dad is brilliant for choosing her!  She is my best girlfriend in this world and in the next.  There is no other mother for me.  Father in heaven knew that when he chose her to be my mother.  What a divine choice it was.

I love you, my angel mother!