Well,

It's Mother's Day and true to form I didn't get a card in time and I hate sending them late, so on Thursday Jen suggested I do a Mother's Day posting to the blog which my mother would probably like better than a card (although I'm sure she'll miss my scribbled signature). So here goes:

The older I get the more I realize how much my mother knows, how much she must have cared (evidenced by the fact that I made it through childhood) and still does, and how much she went without to give me what I still consider to be an ideal childhood.

How much my mother knows

In my eyes my mother started off knowing everything, then I got a little older (teenager) and then I thought all of her knowledge was probably useful for her generation, but it couldn't possibly pertain to my life. Well, I went on a mission, got married, and had kids of my own. Now I realize that most of the things she taught me really were principles that I would do well to adhere to. One of the biggest ones in my mind right now is how she taught me to stay out of debt. My parents never bought anything unless they could pay cash for it. Yes, this meant that in my mind as a child I thought we must not be very well off since I didn't have every single toy that my friends had, but as I reflect on it now I realize we were rich in many ways. We always had what we needed and much of what we wanted, my parents never had to stress about being able to make payments on non-necessary things, and I was taught a lesson that I am trying to live myself.

How much my mother cares

I could write chapters on this one (and maybe someday I will) but for now, here's a list of some of the small things my mother has done over the years that I can remember which demonstrated her unselfishness and love for me and my brothers (and I know a lot of mothers do this kind of stuff, so I'll mention how mine went above and beyond which is how she demonstrated her love):

• After we went to bed, she would stay up and make us lunch for school the next day: Not just some cheap lunch, I'm talking sandwiches on homemade bread and everything
• Infinite loads of laundry: Was always folded and organized in such a way that we could carry it to our rooms and load up the dresser from top to bottom drawer because that's the order she folded in
• Great meals: Although I would have loved cereal for dinner every night my mother always knew what she was making for dinner that night and started it on time so that when we all got home from school or work, we could eat a nice meal as a family
• Being a great nurse: Not only did she treat me and my brothers kindly when we were sick, I don't remember my mother taking any sick days herself although I'm sure she was sick at times
• Great treats: (Can you tell I like food?) Whenever we would have some kind of treat or fun food (for family night or just because) not only would my brothers and I get the first helpings, but we often got the last of it too (knowing how much I like food, this was probably a decent sacrifice for her)

How much my mother went without

My mother was always very unselfish when it came to material things. She would have made a great pioneer. For example, she loves to sew. Now she could have easily said that by making clothes and saving money she needed a really nice, expensive, top of the line sewing machine. However, she didn't get one of those until just a few years ago after we were all grown. Another example is how she always seemed to get practical things for her birthday and Christmas (like cookware) when in my eyes you were supposed to get fun things on those occasions. I am sure there were things she would have liked to have, but she sacrificed those things so we could not only have our needs, but many of our wants.

In short, the more I look around this crazy world these days the more I realize I could not have asked for a better childhood. I look back on driving across the country on summer vacation and playing family games in the car, eating lunch which my mother would make for us as we drove (always being the last one to get anything to eat), and camping most of the nights with great fondness now (although I admit to not thinking much about it then). Age is a great gift in that it allows us to see what those who went before us have done and lets us appreciate those things even more than we may have initially. Many people probably think this, but I know it's true in my case, I got the best mother I could have had.

Love you Mom,

Derek