 |
| my mom with Noah on Easter 09 |
I must have been 2 years old, maybe 3. The salty evening air whipped my hair around my face,; my heart pounded with fear. My mother held me against her tightly, pointing to the sky, “Sarah, it’s your favorite color, pink!” Each new crack and “wheeewwww” in the air lit up the sky with color- I buried my head into her soft, sunscreen scented skin and breathed in comfort.
Around 8 or 9, my mom let me ride with her to business meetings. Sometimes they would be 7 hour trips, just me and her. I would watch her twirl her wedding rings around with her thumb, long slender fingers tapping the steering wheel impatiently. I wanted to be just like her. Once at a hotel, we watched movies, swam and put on self-tanner all day long. At home, I would look at all her high heels and wish my feet fit into them.... we’d sit in church and her shoe would dangle off her foot when she crossed her legs…and she would look beautiful.
Her youth has always felt palpable to me. At the age of 22, she delivered me. I was her third child (out of five). I remember being aware of her age for the first time when she was 29 and since then, she has not seemed to age.
My mother is incredible. She is full of energy, happiness and light. She is one of the most resilient people I know. I watched her sob over her firstborn son’s body the morning he passed away and in that moment I realized that she was not only my mother but I was her daughter and that was her son, her baby. She loves us. She worked so hard for us, changing diapers (for 17 years), working night after night as a party plan manager/consultant, making huge pots of stew on Sundays…. Her life story would wrap around my entire blog twice. What would have crippled others has made my mother who she is today.
She is a successful entrepreneur and always has taught me that I can achieve my dreams. She taught me to be independent and courageous. She taught me not to be ashamed of who I am and to speak the truth without fear. She is a fiercely loyal person and a supremely protective mother. She used to say that being a mother was like being a lioness- she would tell me that a lioness would attack without hesitation anything that could threaten her children. I didn’t understand what she meant until I had Noah. The instinctual prowess of a mother is unexplainable. She stood by me as I breastfed Noah for the first time and defended my decision to birth Audrey at home...she respects me as an adult and parent and I appreciate that more than she will ever know.
She taught me to love Jesus and accept Him as my Saviour. She sees the positive side of everything and her favorite color is yellow. She is most beautiful without makeup and her laugh wraps everything in gold.
Many times in my life, people have said, “you are JUST like your mother!” And now I realize how wonderful of a thing that is.
I love you Mom. Thank you for being my friend, my mom and a beacon of light in our family.
Happy Mother’s Day.
