My Mother

 

 

 

A few things you need to know about my mother...

 

She lives by grace.  She forgives when she is wronged, she apologizes when she's wronged.  She doesn't hold grudges and will not go to bed angry.

 

She always has a clean house.  Now that I am a mother myself I have no idea how she managed to make sure there wasn't a speck of dust in the living room, our bathrooms always looked squeaky clean, and there wasn't a crumb left on the kitchen table.

 

She thinks naps are essential to happiness in life - but she only says she is going to "close her eyes" because if you say nap she might sound lazy, and lazy she is not.

 

I learned to like vegetables growing up because I had to clean my plate before I got dessert - and I knew she meant business so I did as I was told.

 

She has perfected the pound cake.  If she ever decided to sell it there would be a line down the street everyday.  Her spaghetti is pretty good too.

 

She says what she thinks, but with a filter.  She's never going to hurt your feelings but she will tell you the truth.

 

She has always been my biggest cheerleader.  Even in college when I was a nutritionist major, then art major, then fashion design major, then history major, then political science major, then elementary education major she believed I could succeed in every single one and encouraged me on.

 

That being said, she has patience - lots of it.  Not just with her children, or grandchildren,  but with friends and acquaintances.

 

She still cleans, cooks, and takes care of me and my children, every single day. 

 

She has a really, really good memory- especially when it deals with numbers, and I can't even remember the last time she lost something.

 

She taught me the importance of exercise.  We used to go on walks and runs together when I was as young as middle school.  I will always be grateful that I had a role model to show me what persistence means.

 

The way I see her love my children makes me want to be a better mother.

 

She believes in good, southern, old fashioned manners.  Stand up straight, don't chew gum, put your napkin in your lap, don't put your elbows on the table, wait until everyone has been seated and the blessing has been said before you even think about picking your fork up, don't reach across the table, say please and thank you, yes mam, no sir, and know how to set a table for any occasion - formal or informal.

 

My grandmother, her mother - Granny, was the heart and soul of our family.  I think, in some way, she was afraid of the big shoes to fill once she had grandchildren.  What she doesn't know is what I see in my children's eyes - that she is what our Granny was to us, the heart and soul of our family.