Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday, May 13, 2007 9:30 AM

For me, Mother's Day isn't just about recognizing women who gave birth to another person, but instead, it is about celebrating influence.  You see, I was just lucky enough to have two moms!  My first mom gave birth to me.  My second mom married my dad when I was two - we were a package deal!  Both of these women have influenced me all of my life. 

Neither of these women are perfect.  They both made good choices and bad choices.  They both took different turns down different roads.  But they are both my moms.  As luck would have it, my birth mom is the one with genetic hair loss!  tee hee!  I kept hoping my stepmother's hair genes would rub off on me, but I just wasn't quite that lucky!

What I am reflecting on today is the influence they had in my life.  I remember them both making significant sacrifices for me as a child.  One decided to become independent to keep us safe.  One invested eight hours every weekend just so that I would have the ability to remain close to my family. 

We had neighborhood puppet plays in our backyard and not your typical productions...I'm talking about audiences of 100 or more with an entire summer dedicated to production of sets, etc.!  We all licked our plates clean on banana split cake night.  We played Uno (tm) and Trouble (tm) until our sides hurt from laughing so hard.  We cooked together and went on wonderful camping trips together.  I remember vacation days at the lake that ended by falling asleep to the sound of waves while granules of sand scratched our skin because we were too lazy to rinse off before jumping into our beds exhausted.  

I remember watching these women closely and learning very valuable lessons from their choices.  Those lessons formed me into the mother I am today.

Funny thing is, I didn't turn out perfect either!  I have made good choices and bad.  I have decided to take different turns down different roads. But in the end, because of the influence these women (and many others) had in my life,  I think my children will learn lots of valuable lessons that will help them become the best examples they can possibly be...

Happy Mother's Day,

Babe