Thanks Mom

It’s not until you become a mother that you truly understand your mother.

The dictionary defines Mother as “a female parent.”  While that is very true there are so many more things that characterize a mother.

I’m very lucky that I’ve always had a wonderful relationship with my mom.

She did not bake  cookies with me or volunteer to plan parties at school. Ironically, I love to do those things but that just wasn’t her cup of tea.

She was, and continues to be, a real estate agent so many times she worked both during the week and on weekends. I never felt neglected or abandoned. I was always well taken care of and, being an only child, did almost everything with my parents.

We ate dinner together, every night, as a family and always did fun things on weekends. She was not Betty Crocker but she was a fun mom.

I attribute a lot of my happy childhood not only to my mother, but also my two grandmothers. One lived five minutes away and the other half a world away, yet they both played major roles in my life.

They were both homemakers. One loved to cook, the other hated it! One raised six children and the other five. Neither one of them worked outside the home, but they both projected more strength, determination and work ethic than any modern female CEO I know.

They were proud to be wives, proud to be mothers and proud to be women. I am lucky enough to still have one with me and, at 88, she can still wear heels that some 25 year old women can’t pull off!

I always appreciated and adored these women, but everything changed when I became a mother. You just have a completely different awareness of what it means to BE a mother. You are not simply “a female parent.”

You are a donor of life, supplier of survival and provider of comfort. You can’t sleep if she doesn’t sleep, you follow her around so you can be there to catch her if she falls and you’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy regardless of what sacrifices you have to make.

And, all of a sudden, you realize your mom did the same things for you and you see her in a totally different light. And the best part is when you see your mother with your daughter. You get to relive all the emotions your mother felt when she had you, but you’re now an adult and that joy is suddenly transmitted through your daughter.

My mother continues to help me today. She’s still there to catch me when I fall and she still makes sacrifices to make me happy. In short, she is, and always will be, my mommy regardless of how old I am. To me, that is the definition of “Mother.”

So, on this Mother’s Day, I’d like to thank my mother for being the best mother (and grandmother) in the world.