Simply Marvelous Mom

My MOM: Marvelous Outstanding Mother

I wanted to take a minute or two today to write about one of the most incredible people in my life, my mom. Years of making sandwiches for brownbag lunches, acting as a chauffeur to school activities, kissing and magically healing scraped knees, offering sound advice about studies, friendships, and life, dutifully attending long and sometimes rather dull dance recitals and concerts, doing countless loads of wash, and a million other things that my mom did (and still does) for me, have led me to believe that I have the most MARVELOUS and most OUTSTANDING mom on the planet.

She is special for about five trillion reasons, but here are a few of the special features that make me grateful every single day and especially so on Mother's Day:

• My mom used to pick my friends and I up from school in her old white Nova car with these cool red-white-and-blue sunglasses (with mirror lenses), windows down and radio up really loud. We would hang out of the window grooving along with her... Yes, my mom was the really 'cool' one!
• Whenever I call home, to this day, she takes time out of a busy day or important transaction to listen to whatever trivial moment I might have to share, whether it is another stupid blunder that I have managed to have with my bicycle or an intensive life question. She's a great listener and always makes me feel important and cared for... no matter what sort of silly action I might have taken or wild-haired plan I might have for the future.
• If you know what a vice grip is (my grandfather had a special passion for these fix-it-all items on his farm), you can well understand my mother's philosophy about hugging. If you hug her, you have to be aware that, despite her small size, she can really get a tight grip and she might not let go right away. Even if you feel a bit squeezed, you are quite certain that she loves you a whole lot when she lets go!
• My mom has a pretty adventurous spirit. She's a bad-ass biker chic (see photo, above) who enjoys biking and isn't afraid of trying new things. Her energy and enthusiasm for getting out and trying something new is amazing -- I only hope I can be so open and so effortlessly cool someday.
  
• A lot of people can say that their parents or mom are generous and welcoming, but my mom (and, in all fairness, dad too) always encouraged my brother and I to fill the house with friends. We had parties with over 80 people, silly foam, hot tubbing, and all kinds of crazy games in my house growing up. My mom not only let us have people over but was there with a perfect balance of meeting everyone and giving us our space to play. I always had the mom everyone wanted to know and to see.
• If you have ever met my mom, you'll know that she is a rather small woman, but she is tougher and more energetic than many people I know (most of the time including myself). I've watched her pot endless lines of plants and then heave them across the yard of our family nursery business or tirelessly work a full day and come home to cheerfully help with homework or play with the dog. She's amazing.

Actually, there are millions of things I could say here -- all of them equally amazing. The point is that I am so happy that I have such a marvelous mom that I want everyone to know how special she is and how thankful I am for who she is and who she has allowed me to be. So, on this very special day when we remember our moms and how cool they are, I just want to say...

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!