My Mom...

On this Mother's Day I am thinking a lot about my mom, Gloria...like I do every year actually. She has been an inspiration to me throughout my life of enduring with gentleness, of accomplishing against the odds , of overcoming with grace and dignity. She married young, and did not finish her education. But, when my father became very ill and disabled, she returned to school, got her GED and then continued to learn, eventually receiving her Associates degree.
However, it is not just formal schooling that she continued to learn. She is very proficient on the computer and was the person in charge of the Scottsdale Community College class schedule book. A daunting task! But it was wonderful each year. She learned to paint and do needlepoint. She entered her work in the Fair and won awards for it. Recently, she has been learning to play Mah Joung, a complicated tile game. Her mind is ever working. I admire this quality about her and have tried to follow her example in it.
She has had hardships in her life, yet maintains a positive outlook on life. There is no bitterness for losing two husbands to death, for having to work most of her life or the conditions in which she has had to live at times in life. She takes each day as a gift and finds the good and gives to others her smile and warmth. I hope to be like her in that as well. To reach up and out rather than be looking inward selfishly.
My Mom has always had a gentle soul. I remember times , as a teenager, lying on her bed crying the typical teenage broken heart tears and feeling better because she just listened and softly stroked my hair as I cried and tried to express my feelings. I am trying to remember that, when my own children talk and I want to blurt out advise. Just listen and let them talk, answers often come that way. My mom is so wise.
I hope she has a wonderful Mother's Day and that my brothers treat her well. I wish I could be there to fix dinner and pamper her the way she deserves. But I am not, so I will try to be like her as my own children come over, and love them and be an example to them of gentleness, courage and dignity. I love you MOM!!!!!