Satinvi’s my mom. She should get a million credits just for that. I was never hugely rebellious. I mean, sure, I rolled my eyes and “forgot” to do chores. I was late for curfew once or twice and I frequently got myself into weird pickles. But I think she raised a good kid. I don’t know, maybe I’m partial.
She sees the humor in things. Mom has a quirky sense of humor, which is evident in her and Dad’s DVD collection and in her
blog. She has taught me to laugh at life and at myself. I mean, if you can’t laugh at yourself, then life’s boring, right? A classic family memory comes from when I was very young, three years old, I think. Mom came downstairs one morning, opened the fridge and noticed a chocolate cake was missing. She walked into the bathroom, flipped on the lights and caught me brown-handed on the floor, face covered in chocolate. I’d been learning in Sunday School that Jesus lives inside of us, so when she asked, “What are you doing?” I turned my goopy chocolaty face to her and said very sincerely, “Jesus was ‘harungry.’” She could very well have been furious with me and given me a spanking to remember. But instead, she said, “Well, I think Jesus has had enough,” and tried not to laugh in front of me. There’s enough in life to be serious about. Thanks to her I’m not overwhelmed by it.
Mom’s a take-charger. Our area was rather unfortunate in Girl Scout leadership. My friend and I troop-hopped a lot until Mom finally had enough and just started her own troop. She did a fabulous job of it – even taking four junior high girls on a road trip from Michigan to Missouri to visit Silver Dollar City. She’s brave, too! Just on the way down, one girl got carsick and puked in another girl’s hair. They both lost their lunch at a rest stop. Then when a man was eyeing us at the rest stop, she herded us in the car and took off, keeping an eye out for him the whole rest of the day.
She’s compassionate. She’s been a mom to most of my friends – and I’ve had quite the array of friends! She’s never judged a single one of them for their lifestyles or choices. She just loves them, feeds them, gives them a hug, picks them up from the train station, drives them places, and always makes sure they have a place to sleep, whether it’s a guest bed, couch, blow up mattress or a tent.
My Mom is one of the strongest people I know. I may have to help her open the occasional jar, but I have nothing on her when it comes to strength of character. For ten years she was a Navy wife. Dad would be away for weeks at a time on the submarine, and when other women eventually backed out for one reason or another, my Dad always knew he had a loving wife to come home to. More recently, she lost her job, caught in the crossfire between various people, shortly after losing her father and at the same time as our family was seen out the door of our church. Feelings of hurt and betrayal could have kept her down, but they didn’t. She grieved. Then she traveled. Mom’s been taking the opportunity to see and do things that work would have kept her from doing. We have a big trip planned for tomorrow and the next couple of weeks – I can’t wait!
Humorous, decisive, compassionate and strong, Mom’s pretty cool. But best of all, she’s my mom! When I scraped my knees, she cleaned them. When I was depressed, she drove forty-five minutes to see me. When I called home bawling because of a bad class, friend troubles, stupid boys, or frustrating grad school applications, she reassured me she’d love me no matter what. Even if I was a failing, friendless, spinster without a high degree. And when life was good, she’d turn up the music and rock out with me, take me shopping, bake cookies, or do whatever else we were in the mood for.
My Mom is pretty darn fabulous. I love her SO much and wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Happy Mother’s Day (a little early), Mom!
Comments (4)
That was wonderful. What a great gift for your Mom! I have really enjoyed getting to know her on Xanga.
This is beautiful.