Mother’s Day Is a Great Time to Celebrate Uniqueness
Happy Mother's Day! Got a quirky mom? This weekend we're celebrating the quirks, the playfulness, the discipline, the organization, and thoughtfulness, and the love.
And the most important things our moms have ever done for us. Here's mine.
She let me go.
I grew up in Nebraska, and right after college I decided I wanted to live in a warmer climate with a great music scene, spicy food, and burritos the size of my forearm. So off to Austin, Texas I went. I packed up all of my stuff in a moving van, secured two part-time jobs, rented and apartment that cost $471 per month, never looked back. It was scary as heck not knowing one person in Austin when I set out on my journey, but it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.
I remember the day I told my mom I wanted to move a thousand miles away, and I don't think she believed me at first. And then she saw the moving boxes. She cried. I cried. But she told me she understood, and she and my dad would come and visit whenever they could, and they'd keep my room ready at their house so I could come back anytime.
My mom never had a job outside the house, and she was there every moment of every day for my younger sister and me as we were growing up. She was at all of our basketball games and theater performances, and she dropped us off at every swimming lesson and church camp. And she was the one that gently pushed me onto the school bus when I was a shy and panicked kindergartner who didn't want to go to the big scary school on the first day, and then she went inside the house and cried. She was always there for me and did the right thing, even when it was uncomfortable.
Maybe you've got a mom like mine, that's a little neurotic, a lot supportive, always appreciative of family moments, and won't shop online or get on social media because she thinks it's all weird. All moms are unique, and we couldn't do life without them.
So Happy Mother's Day! Jewelry, brunch, and flowers are the top gifts. But most moms I know are really happy with hugs, good conversation, and pictures of the grand kids that they'll never see on Facebook because they think social media is weird.
Have a really awesome weekend moms. You deserve it.