This is a post that I have been working on for a while, and I wanted to post it yesterday but I have been struggling with this one. Its a touchy one and I don't want it to be all sadness and tears, but I wanted to share it.
My mom's and my relationship has been defined by many years of love, bickering, always having to have the last word, love, deep conversations, trust, love, honesty (sometimes too honest), stubbornness, and most importantly love. My dad even called us identical twins this weekend while celebrating Mother's Day. Growing up, we were constantly bickering and arguing and my dad and brother were consistently annoyed by us. But the second I had a problem or needed advice I turned to her. She knew everything about me. She can read me like a book, mostly because I am just like her. I think like her, enjoy the same things as her, and it is definitely safe to say that she is my mother. Her creativity was something I admired in her growing up. I was always so proud to show my friends what my mom had made, and anything they wanted made they would go to her. I wanted to be just like her and now I find myself diving into these crazy projects like she would. We both drive our husbands crazy, but then they love the end product.
I have always relied on her for everything. I have always known I can ask her anything and nothing is too embarrassing. Before she stopped working, I would drive her crazy with all of my phone calls because if I wanted to know something (and I was very impatient and wanted to know the answer right then) I would call her about 7 times a day until she told me to stop calling. When I went to college, I would call her to ask her where something was exactly in the grocery store. Or if I was trying to experiment with cooking and I didn't know what a certain ingredient was I would call her. She not only told me where it was but helped me understand what it was and what you use it for. I still do this to this day because I swear she is an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to food, gardening, or crafts! I have yet to find something she doesn't know what it is or how to use it.
She has been my rock during some really tough times in my life and was never anything but supportive. Looking back on growing up, I think about how many times I was so angry at her and how she just took it and knew it was what was best for me at the time. I now understand that as a parent, and understand why she said that you are the enemy first and then the friend. I felt like she was my enemy in high school, when in reality she was my biggest ally, and today is my best friend.
Even today she drives me crazy playing devils advocate at times, or telling me to use the stupid netty pot when I have a cold when I tell her 10 times a week that I hate that thing, or when she calls me and makes sure that I have doctor's appointments scheduled for me and Sterling, or if I remembered to do this or that. With everything that has happened, those little things that always drove me crazy and still sometimes do, I am so thankful for and they make me smile. Because that's what mom's do. And she is why I am the person I am today, because of all those little things, and because she loves me.
Obviously Mother's Day is special for us. It always has been, but we also take it for granted a lot of times and it's not until you are faced with losing someone that something like Mother's Day becomes so special. It just the way human beings work. We had a low key Mother's Day and just hung out at my parents house and cooked out and Sterling swam and we were just a family. Which is better than any material gift I could have thought of.
I just wanted to share how much I love my mommy. I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day with your families!
