Today is Her Birthday......

Today.....59 years ago, this precious woman was born. Little did her parents know the impact that she would make on the lives of all of those around her.

She grew up and went to the same high school as I did....cheered for the football team....got in fights in the bathroom...you know the regular high school stuff!!

She got out of school and married my dad when she was almost 19 years old and proceeded to have three kids in three years......I know, right! Cahrazee! She never missed a school play (shout out to the Lollipop Kids), PTO meeting, sporting event, or anything else for that matter. She was the mom that everybody wanted....the mom that I had. She made me laugh, when I would have rather cried......she cried....when I couldn't laugh.........she loved....and taught me how to love!!

She is an awesome lady, this woman I call MOM!

About 10 years ago my grandfather died unexpectedly. We knew that Mama couldn't be on her own....so my Mom brought her home, made a room in her house.....and loved her Mom...just like she had always loved us. When she could no longer care for Mama....she made the dreaded decision to place her in a nursing home.......Mama had so many needs and needed around the clock nursing care. Mom would go and sit with her for hours and feed her, talk to her, sing to her.....sometimes she just sat. She was as devoted to Mama as she always was to us. I was with her the day Mama went to be with the Lord....she answered the phone around 6:30 in the morning and we just knew what the call was. She got off the phone.......and just wept. Wept because her best friend was gone....the lady that hadn't talked back in over a year.....was no longer there to listen. Wept because she would no longer hold her hand....feed her lunch.....tell her stories......and she wept with tears of joy because she knew that Mama was no longer in pain...no longer trapped in her own body.....she was free....she was with Jesus! That morning I watched her go through the pain that she had been preparing for, and she was a rock....just like she is in every situation life throws at her....and there have been lots.

I learned a lot from my mom during those years with Mama, and I will be forever grateful for it. I learned how to love someone...with no conditions. I learned how to treat your elders with the Respect that they deserve. I learned to make sacrifices for the people you love. I learned that the only way to get through hard times....is just trust the Father!

As we sat at Mama's funeral on that snowy, February afternoon....my mom sang along to the words of "I can only Imagine"....and the whole time she sang...she imagined Mama...standing before her Savior! I know that one day my Mom will do the same......and I can only imagine what it will be like when she will hear those precious words "Well done my good and faithful servant". She has left a legacy that will continue on for generations....a legacy of faith and love and laughter. And this my friends, is one of her legacies:

She is my Mom...my best friend.....my hero!

Happy Birthday Mom...hope you aren't made I told people you are 59:)....but you look 40!!!! I love you!