Taking you home

Taking you home

I had my mom for 40 years, it was not nearly enough time. I was bratty as a teen, embarrased because my mom wasn't the cool, young type. I never saw the inner beauty till I grew up and had kids of my own. She always smiled when she saw her children,no matter how old they were. She became a widow when i was 12 and she worked her butt off from then on. I learned from her even when I wasn't trying. She instilled in me a work ethic, a love and devotion to her children that I find myself having also. She would say if you have kids raise them and I did. After my own marriage failed, I took care of two boys under 5, work a full time job and went to Law Enforcement training. She helped more than she knew, by living with me. She taught me to finish what I start, hard work pays off. Cooking was her favorite and I still make potatoe candy at Christmas time. When I met Thomas who would become my husband, my mom still lived with me. I promised her many time she would never live in a nursing home. She didn't , she lived here surrounded by family . As she grew older, I would still see bits of my strong mom come thru her fragile self. She was a trooper who gave birth to 8 kids, who married at 16. A mom who lost her own parents before she was 5. A mom who was seperated from her two sisters and went to live with her aunt. She often said when she had her first child it was the one thing no one could take away from her. It was a hard life at times, I hope the love her children gave her eased it.. In 2009, my mom got sick in April, thinking it was just a cold she went to the dr. It was pneumonia and what was just going to be a routine stay in the hospital were her last days here on earth. My mom was buried on April 11th, my birthday. A friend comforting me told me that she brought me into this world on that date, it was my turn to help her leave this world. My mom in her coffin looked 20 years younger, no wrinkles etched her face , I believe there was a small smile on her lips. She was in Heaven, I truly believe that, with her family that had gone on before her. I like to think holding my baby I had lost a few years back.She left me with stories I will pass to my own, with values and virtues I hope are growing and being instilled in mine.I often go see her and talk at her grave site. I feel sometimes her presence in my home, the smell of her lotion. I smile knowing she is here with me and my family. My mom was my greatest influence then and still today when I find myself saying the exact same things she said. So for those that are estranged from your parents I have only this to say. My advice to ones that have mothers and fathers still alive, don't let the sun go down being mad at your parents. You are their world and no matter what happens between you, I am sure they would drop everything to be there for you.