MY MOM, MY BEST FRIEND

This is a perfect day to share some memories during my life of my Mom and me. I only wish I had been smarter in the past and made everyday Mother's Day! It makes me feel very sad that a terminal illness makes things so clear.
For those of you that don't know me here's a short background. My parents are Missionaries with Word Of Life. I am the first born and only girl. I have four brothers. We have lived in many different areas of the US and made many friends........but my Mom has always been my best friend!!!!
Some of my earliest memories are when we lived in NY. My Mom got me up in the middle of the night to watch a lunar eclipse. I also watched the first man walk on the moon. We tried to catch wild kittens rigging a plastic clothes basket, propping it up with a stick and attaching a string that went around the corner where we were hiding and bribing them with milk. When they would go in for the milk Mom would pull the string and the basket would fall down. We never did catch a kitten but we came close!!! When I was in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades I tried out for a singing group called Little Singers. We wore blue pleated skirts and white blouses with the letters LS. Mom always made sure my outfit was pressed perfectly. As a matter of fact my Mom always made sure all five of us kids clothes were always ironed. I remember eating hot shredded wheat with butter for breakfast, watching the deer eating in the field across the road on snowy days, selling sweet corn, and going to Grandpa and Grandmas for Sunday dinner. I remember my Mom bringing home my brother Scott from the hospital. She wore a blue dress with a "B" pin.
I once tried to win a contest at church for bringing the most visitors. I wanted that Bible so much! I was in the third grade. Mom helped me call people and kept track of it for me.
I have lots of memories of going grocery shopping with Mom. That's where to this day I look for cans that aren't dented, picking items from the back, figuring the price to get the most for your money, how to bag items together. Mom would make her grocery list by aisle so she could get done faster!
Dad traveled a lot in his early days with Word Of Life. Since I was the oldest I was allowed to stay up later. Mom and I liked to make a can of Oyster Stew soup and watch Barnaby Jones. This was our special time.
Mom always did special things for us. She once made me red curtains for my room because I was on a red, white and blue kick. Friday night was popcorn and board game night. Even with five kids Mom always found time for fun.
I attended a Christian School my last three years of high school and then Cedarville for college. Mom made my clothes back then. I remember going to the fabric store and looking through patterns and picking out fabric. I now appreciate what all went into making clothes for your teen daughter with four other kids running around. I don't think either of us have been to a fabric store since!
The worst day of my life (up until Oct. 1 when Mom was diagnosed with cancer) was when I left for college. I can't even describe how horrible it was leaving. Now that I look back I would have changed that part and gone to college closer to home.
As an adult my Mom and I have gotten even closer. We can do anything together and make it fun. One Mother's Day I took her to St. Thomas. We had so much fun! One time we did a girls outing on Sanibel Island with my Sister-in-Law Kristy, Deb, and Mom. We can have fun just sitting and talking without doing anything. We can get to laughing so hard we almost wet our pants. We've had some great family vacations! I've been to Arizona with just Dad and Mom. We've gone to Texas to see Scott and his family, we've been to Disney many times and I've been to Florida to just stay with Mom and Dad while they were at Word Of Life. When I go to Florida there are always a couple things we always do. We have to go to the beach as much as possible to watch the sun set and eat grouper at this restaurant on the beach. We almost always go over to Orlando to Disney Village for the day.
Mom loves to go shopping! We usually make a day of it going to lunch and looking at every kids shop in the mall. You see, Dad and Mom have 11 grandkids that they are crazy about and Mom now has to look at every kids shop! It's gotten to be a running joke because she never brings the kids sizes with her so she is always calling my sister-in-laws from the store for sizes.
I've had the privilege of being with her and helping her afterwards during her hip replacement and two knee replacements. It was always hard to keep her still!!
Life has a funny way of changing fast. On Oct. 1, 2008 Mom went in for a routine gall bladder removal and was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer. This came out of no where. There were no signs, nothing in her blood test, scans or Dr.s visits. Nothing. Nathan and I have been trying to get our parents to move down here (North Carolina) for a long time. This is not how we envisioned spending time with our parents. The end of Oct. Dad and Mom moved in with me as Mom began treatment at Duke.
We still do as much as possible. Mom gets tired quickly but I have totally enjoyed having them here. They are using my room and we call it "the apartment." Thank goodness Deb can cook!! Even Molly the crazy Labradoodle has gotten used to them. It's fun to come home from work and be able to sit down to talk.
Mom feels good most days and we try to do things at least a few times a week. I took them to the Farmers Market and Mom loved it so I see that more in our future! They go over to Nathan and Heather's and Mom spends time with her sister. I'm taking every advantage to spend time with her......not the way I had planned but the way it is. It sounds so over used, but it's in the small stuff that makes things so special.
So, Mom, thank you for EVERYTHING!!!! I love you so, so much!!!!