My Mom happens to be one of the most incredible people in the world. The funny thing is, I never even knew how strong she was until now. I think most people don’t realize how cool their moms are until they are grown up, but I was totally clueless. It’s amazing the things I don’t know about her, and even more amazing how much fun I’m having learning all of these things!
My mom went on a mission to South America. Back in the day when they washed their dishes and cooked with water gathered in “rain barrels”. Do they still do that? Gross. Then she came home and married my handsome handsome father, who (legend has it) had to give her $100 to go to Israel with his whole family before she’d say yes.
She now has 5 grown kids, 5 grown in-laws, and 8 and 3-halves grandkids. She’s still an amazing mom, and she gets up and does hard things all day every day.
She’s always been faithful and active in the church, she accept callings and serves willingly. She knows the difference between right and wrong, and she acts like it. She taught me that “there’s never a good reason to be mean to anybody” and she makes the world’s greatest rolls. She gardens, runs marathons, and cleans like moms used to (you know…back in the old days when dinosaurs roamed, ring was a pup, and she was a kid). She humors us when we wanna roll around in the dirt, and doesn’t complain when we’re out on the lake and she’s cleaning up from or preparing a meal over a fire. Her fire food is every bit as good as her kitchen food. She plays the guitar, piano, and organ. She sings. She rocks babies to sleep. She snuggles with the best of ‘em, and even though she’s tiny, she can still hold her grown children on her lap and make all their owies go away. Believe me. I’ve done it.
The things I’m just learning about her amaze me. She went through a miscarriage while in Israel where nobody spoke English. She probably hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in 30-whatever years because of entirely too many physical issues to name. I’m sure her body hurts, and her joints are sore (what with the arthritis, fibromyalgia, and just plain old age (ha ha ha)), but you’d never know it. Why? Because she’s on her hands and knees waxing the kitchen floor, pulling weeds, planting flowers, talking to grandkids, or praying.
Probably crying sometimes too, but I’ve never seen her break down. I’ve seen her cry, but it’s always with joy, from feeling spirit, or for someone else’s hurt. She doesn’t complain, she doesn’t whine, and you’ll probably never know about anything that bugs her. I don’t think she has pet peeves, and I don’t think she gets annoyed by people. My mom is wonder woman, and no matter how hard your mom tries, she’ll never be able to beat up my mom.
I’ve only had mothers-in-law for 3 years but I can’t begin to express my appreciation for these wonderful women.
Josh’s mom is one of those people that you know are going straight to the Celestial Kingdom because of their pure and simple goodness. There is no doubt in my mind that if I wanna see her after this life (and I do), I’d better shape up and be better. She knows the rules and she follows them. She is dedicated to the gospel and to her family. She loves kids (even those of us she didn’t raise) and she has perfect faith. I don’t think anybody ever questions her intentions because it’s clear that she does things out of love. She cares about people and always knows (and remembers) big events coming up. She’s interested in what’s going on in your life and she wants you to know she cares and she loves you. She’s strong and capable of anything. She fills so many roles it’s hard to imagine how she has time to do the “regular mom stuff” but somehow she always makes it happen. The faith with which she has lived is amazing to me.
Josh’s step-mom is that woman that you look at and wonder how she keeps going. From my perspective her life is exhausting, and she takes on jobs that most women don’t. She works graveyard shifts as a nurse, and I’m pretty sure she knows everything medical there is to know. She runs the household, cooks, cleans, gardens, and puts up her own Christmas lights. She stepped in to be an incredible mother to Josh when he was young. She is not the kind of woman who asks for help, probably because she can do everything by herself. She is strong and knows how to stand up for herself and I truly think there isn’t anything she can’t do.
Not only are they incredible mother’s to me now, but they raised Josh and taught him how to be the man he is. They taught him respect and caring, they taught him how to work and how to play. I’m pretty sure they taught him about PMS, but it’s not the kind of thing you truly understand until you’ve married to it….they tried though. J I’m married to an incredible man, and lucky enough to have mothers-in-law who managed to give him all of their goodness and keep plenty of it for themselves too.
The bottom line is, no matter how old I get, no matter where I am, no matter who I’m with or what I’m doing. I have mommies who love me and really, what else matters?
We're so darn lucky huh!
ReplyDeleteThe luckiest family ever. Or maybe the smartest if we got to choose our parents :)
ReplyDeleteLori is a celestial woman. That was a beautiful tribute to all those moms, especially for my best friend. I hope she reads this whenever she has a bad day, because you have written truth.
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