Happy Mother's Day!

Growing up - my mother was my best friend!  She was the one I could count on when everyone else let me down.  She was the one who was willing to lose sleep for me and didn't complain.  We grew up with little other than what we really needed....and sometimes that was in short supply.  But I didn't realize that our family was on the 'poor' side until I was in high school.  I just knew that everyone worked - and worked hard - and I assumed that all families were like that.  I thought that everyone in the valley gave their clothing to someone else when they had outgrown it - maybe they did!  I always looked forward to the sacks of clothing that would come from Alice Steele because there were always pretty dresses in there!  I remember a purple gingham dress with ruffles on the bottom and lace around the sleeves and the neckline.  I LOVED that dress!  That was the dress I would twirl in.  It wasn't too many years later that I realized that my mother was wearing a nightgown that was threadbare - there wasn't much left to it at all.  We had suggested she get herself a new one - but that was the summer I had an extra camp of some sort to go to and the fee was a little steep - especially for back then.  I got to go to camp, and mom continued to wear the threadbare nightgown which she proclaimed that she loved too much to replace.  That's what mothers do.

She taught me to work and to do a job well when I did it, whether it was harvesting potatoes or ironing a shirt or mowing the lawn.  She taught me to play and to not take myself too seriously.  She encouraged me to develop my talents and to follow my heart - whether those decisions involved not marrying my high school sweetheart or moving away to go to school.  She encouraged me not to judge and to reach out to those who didn't have many friends.  She taught me the value of money - of working hard for it - and of saving some of what was earned.  She encouraged me to embrace our religion even though she was not actively living the gospel.  She supported me as I chased my dreams.

I love my mother.  I have loved being a mother and hope that I have been able to give my daughters just a bit of the teachings that my mother blessed my life with.  And now I see that circle enlarge as my oldest daughter just became a mother.

Enjoy a special day - all of you who are mothers, or who have a mother!