My Mom ... There Aren't Enough Words

How do I describe my mother?

She is amazing, wonderful, loving, strong, reliant .... the list could go on and on. She was a stay-at-home mom for most of my life. Always there when we came home from school - she would give us the tools to do the homework but not do it for us.  She is a great cook and I learned how to make many dishes watching and helping her in the kitchen.

When I was 14 years old, everything changed. My father left and she had to get back into the workforce after many many years. She worked hard as a nurse at Bryn Mawr Rehab on the 11-7am shift for over 15 years so we would never go without and the bills were paid on time.

After many heartaches and tears, she met a wonderful man who became my step-father. For the first time in a long time, she was smiling again. They would travel to the Jersey shore because there was a full moon to "spit in the ocean and pop a cork." They were going to travel the New England states once she retired.  Unfortunately we lost him to cancer.  My mother has had many of her own health battles but she is still as beautiful as ever.  There are times when her struggles would have made another person just give up, but thankfully she does not. When she has to be in the hospital, she is the patient who thanks the nursing staff for their care because she doesn't want to be a bother.

I love my mother with all my heart and soul.  She is my best friend and my rock.  She has given me strength to fight my own health battles and struggles with my personal life as I am now a divorced mother of two.  She raised five of us and always with a beautiful smile on her face.  To be able to honor her would be wonderful.