To My Mother...

Mom,

I just want to tell you how much I love you.  I know I say it everyday and at least 5 times when we are getting off the phone, and even if I think I may not have said it I will call back and say it again, I mean those words each and every time. 

I know I wasn't the nicest child growing up and would repeatedly call to you from upstairs for you to bring me something when I was perfectly capable of getting it myself, but you never wanted us to do without and even if it meant bringing something up the stairs, you would. 

There are so many things I can remember you doing for me while growing up and still to this day...

I may be telling on her with some of this, but I want to remember...

We had a "peeping tom" and after that happened, she carried a huge pistol around.  When we would come home at night and dad was still not home, she would make us wait on the couch in the den and would go through every closet, every room with her gun ready in case someone was in the house.

She took us to dance classes for years until we could drive ourselves.

She would almost always have dinner cooked and would always cook Sunday lunch.

She made our Easter dresses a few times, and even made my 8th grade formal dress, and my freshman year of college formal dress.  She made all of Susan's bridesmaids dresses for her wedding.  She had 9.  She even made all of the all-sing dresses for us one year.  

She would take us shopping and then tell us to run the bags upstairs so dad wouldn't see them.  Of course he knew. 

She would stay up late waiting for us, even though we didn't have a curfew, and knew where we were, but she wanted to make sure we always made it home safely. 

She always said the same prayer at night growing up and all I can remember is something about burglars.

She would sit on the back porch of our Madison house and make sure the drunk neighbors wouldn't let their dobermans out of the fence and come and attack us.

She would sometimes even do our assignments for us.  Nothing major ever, but read to us and type up our papers, we wrote them, she would type them.  She stayed up one night with me until 4:30 typing my term paper for English class.  She even drove my friends and I to the Nashville library to do research many times.

She never missed a football game we cheered at, a dance recital we performed in, or an activity we were involved in, unless it was impossible to get there.

She would take me to sleepovers, knowing I would call her at night and ask her to bring me my contacts stuff so I could stay even though I swore I would not want to stay. 

She helped me host a friend's 18th birthday party at our house and we were up until 3 am, but she was still up also cleaning and putting away food and dishes.  And she was at church the next morning.

She even gave me all of my haircuts until I was 19 when she had her stroke.

She would come and lay with me in the bed when I was crying my eyes out over a bad breakup with a guy.

She would stay up with me when I had a stomach virus.

She always did whatever we needed her to do.  She would even curl my hair almost every morning and have breakfast ready and drive us the 22 miles to school and make out a driving rotation schedule so we didn't have to ride the bus.

She still brings me medicine if I need it. 

She still does anything and everything she can for me if needed.

She helped me plan my wedding and kept me grounded through the process.  Our only argument was over long or short dresses for the bridesmaids and it was a 30 second tiff.

She has taught me to appreciate music and play the piano.  She always wanted me to wear more make-up than I wanted to. 

I could go on and on about my momma, but those are just a few of the millions and millions of things she has done for me. 

But it's not only me that she has positively impacted, there are many.  I still get asked how she and my dad are doing weekly by someone.  They have made a positive impact on so many and I hope I do the same with my life.

My momma is the absolute best and even though I was not so nice to her on many occasions, I have learned from her in many ways.  All good of course :)

I love you mom!!