Mother's Day 2011

Today is Mother's Day, 2011. My mom is over 2,000 miles away. The last eight months have been a difficult time for me. My mom suffered a heart attach for which she has since made a miraculous recover. (She's sustained no permanent damaged to her heart.) However, in recent weeks, she has been experiencing some excrutiating back pain and was diagnosed with spinal stenosis.

With this lastest development, I have to stop and re-examine my own life and wonder if my moving away was the right thing to do. I have missed out on years of her life, as well as the rest of my family's lives. I have not been there physically for her, but I have been there for her in spirit as well as by phone.

As children we grow up in the safety and comfort of our family. We have dreams and desires. When we grow up, we want to spread our wings and discover the world around us. We take what our parents have taught us and hope it will be a strong foundation for our own life.

Let it be know that the hardest job in the world is that of a parent, and most of all, being a mom is, by far, the hardest job of all. I appreciate everything that my mom has ever done for me and for our family. Here's why:

My mom worked in the office of our family's business (the office was in our home), she raised two children, kept an amazingly clean house and had dinner on the table every weeknight at 5pm like clockwork.

She never went to bed with a dirty dish in the sink. She washed the sheets every week, mopped the floors, vacuumed and dusted, picked me up from school when I stayed after for Spanish Club and went to my sports games during grade school even though I wasn't any good.

Mom took care of our both our dogs (we had two dachshunds), did the weekly grocery shopping, washed, dryed and ironed all of our clothes, picked up after us, took us to the doctor when we were sick, and did all the packing for our yearly trips to Florida.

She took me shopping for all my school clothes, bought my first guitar and paid for my lessons. She stayed up and waited for me to come home when I was late. She let me hide out in my room on my days off from school when my brother had to get up and go to school. She let me stay home by myself when I didn't want to go out with her and dad.

She let me go away to school, bought my wedding dress and helped me plan my wedding, all the while knowing that I was going to move away. She has supported me in almost everything that I do, even though I know that she secretly wishes that I never moved away.

So on this day, Mother's Day, I want to send my mom loving wishes, even though we are far apart. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you.

From Signature