Happy Mother's Day

As anyone who has lost someone knows, it is not always the day you expect to be sad that hits the hardest. The anniversary of my Mother's death comes and goes, but for whatever reason, this day is a bit harder.

Today, I would like to celebrate all things Kathie and share the little things I love best about my mom.

She could dance. She didn't do it often, but every once in a while, you would catch her grooving around the house to a song playing in her head. I never asked what the song was, for fear that she would say "Elvis" or "The Beach Boys."

She loved pink. Our house was always decorated in "shades of taupe." To be honest, I think she wanted every throw pillow to be fuchsia, but didn't have the nerve. One weekend during college, I came home from a visit to find the kitchen had been painted pepto-pink.

She could bake. Lord, could this women make a pie. She helped put herself through college by winning 4H competitions. When asked what they wanted as a birthday
gift, her friends would always answer, "Coconut Cream"
or "Pecan" or "Blackberry Pie."

She loved T.J. Maxx. We are not talking liked or occasionally made a trip. She would often say things like, "Oh, that lamps is new. I wonder when it came in?" I spent HOURS
hating this place as a child.
(Now, I can't get a enough!)

She teased her hair. She teased it every day. I think she came out of the womb with a plastic comb in one hand and hair spray in the other. ONLY because she grew up in the near-South in the 60s will we forgive her for this.

She was a beautiful friend. My mother firmly believed that family had nothing to do with blood and everything to do with love.

She was my mother. And an amazing one at that.

So today, I say "Happy Day, Mom. I hope each and every day that I will someday be half the person you were. That I will open my life and my heart to those around me. That I will embrace life, even in the face of death. And that above all else, I will be the mother that you showed me how to be. I love you."


Share your favorite memory of Kathie or Mother's Day.