What I learned from my mother...

 We three "girls"  have made it a habit to spend our Momma's Birthday together.  She would want it that way.  So out to dinner we went and when the waiter asked if we were celebrating something we excitedly answered yes, our mother's birthday!  He looked around and said "will she be joining you?"  We all kinda giggled and then had to embarrass him by answering no.  She is celebrating her 73rd birthday in heaven where she has been for 20 years.  Later in our meal and much to our surprise the waiter sent the delicious birthday treat to our table!  Happy Birthday Momma.  We love you! 

Me, Deb and Kathy celebrating our Momma's Birthday with dinner!


 I learned from my mother how to love
people, to have plenty of vases on hand
in case you have to rush to the hospital
with peonies cut from the lawn, black ants
still stuck to the buds. I learned to save jars
large enough to hold fruit salad for a whole
grieving household. I learn that a kiss and a band aid was often
the only thing that was needed to make the pain go away.
I learned that the best things in life aren't things at all.
I learned that doing your best and failing was better than doing
nothing at all. I learned that stray kids and stray cats often make the
best siblings and pets...I learned that you don't have to have the best
of everything, you just have to make the best of what you have. She
was so very good at that. I learned that beauty has absolutely nothing
to do with physical appearance and that the old saying "it's what's on the
inside that counts" is truer than true. I learned that a mother should always be a mother first and friend second to their children. Mothers should always carry, kleenex (or a spare McDonalds napkin), gum and lots of spare change in her purse. I learned that life is short so love unconditionally. I learned that to make a good meatloaf you never make it the same way twice but you always use brown sugar and that cream of mushroom soup will save about any piece of meat that you have over cooked! I learned to laugh at my mistakes and realize that few if any of them are irreversible.
I learned it is okay to be angry but to get over it quickly because the only one that suffers when you are angry, is you. I learned that no one makes you feel anything, you choose your feelings and reactions to situations so don't try to use the...but she made me mad card, it isn't going to fly. You choose your feelings don't let others dictate them to you. I learned that it doesn't matter if you can't carry a tune in a bucket you should sing or at least hum a song every day. I learned that you cannot overuse the words, thank you, I love you and please, even if you try you cannot. I learned that God hears your prayers, even if they are whispered or just even thought....Lastly, I learned that you should love the people that God gives you because some day he will take them back and then all you are left with are the MeMories that you made during your time together.