Happy Mother's Day

As I prepared the gifts for my mother for Mother's Day, I reflected upon what it must've been like for her to marry a serviceman and move halfway across the world at age 21. What strength it had to have taken to move thousands of miles away from everything she knew... work, friends, family... to a country where she knew no one.

For the first eight years of my life, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. She took care of her four small children. We lived in an old house in the country with no phone and she didn't know how to drive. My mom's only support line was my paternal grandma. From what I know, grandma made sure we all were OK when Dad was away.

Eventually, my mother learned how to drive and even got a job she stayed at for 12 years. She and my father moved out of the old house almost 30 years ago when they bought their first home, which they still live in. I can still see the excitement on her face the day my Dad stopped to look at the house when we were out for a drive. While my Dad was looking at the house, she came back to the car and told us kids to be very good so Dad would buy the house. It was a big step up for her (and my Dad), and she always tells people it's her "dream home".

She always took pride in her children, even to this day when she talks about us you can hear it in her voice. She has photos all over their house of her children and grandchildren, as well as her brothers, sister, and Mom. Family means a lot to her, and she tried to instill that value in her children. It's probably the reason none of us moved farther than 20 minutes away! LOL

More about my Mom: HERE

This brings me to Mother's Day... I bought her a big Pink Azalea bush, a small cactus that blooms pink flowers in the Spring (which she went bonkers over!). I also bought three pink helium balloons with various Mother's Day sentiments. Can you see a theme with pink here? My mother is a pink freak!

Wouldn't you know that the minute I stepped out of the car, the wind took the balloons off the cactus pot up into the trees?! My Dad, being the savior he tries to be, fashioned a long board with a hooked nail and got up on a step ladder to try to get the balloons. His leg cramped up and he quickly came down off the ladder and could hardly stand. Once it passed he wanted to try again! Silly guy!! I told him to leave the balloons up in the tree, but he wouldn't have it. He was determined to get them down, which he did. My mom was a happy camper, indeed. She loves all those cheesy things such as balloons and was already making plans to save them when the helium went out. LOL Kudos to Dad for saving Mom's balloons.