Happy Mother's Day - sharing a few memories

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I have been bogged down at work with some things but hopefully after this weekend it is going to let up and I can get back to posting. I have been trying to craft some in my spare time and do have some projects to post this coming week.

I have started working on a new series of cards that I will be posting at the end of the month. I haven't decided what to call this series yet but I will give my standard warning of **if you are easily offended by off color humor or bad language please do not check my website during the time the series is posting** and I will post the warning again when the series starts to post.

Anyway, I wanted to wish all those mothers a wonderful Mother's Day today. I haven't celebrated the day with my mother since 2001 and over the years it has gotten easier and now I am able to spend the day thinking about memories of my mom and smiling to myself. My mother and I didn't always have a good relationship and there were a few years we didn't speak to each other. But, thanks to God and my Aunt Betty, we were able to be best friends the last 3 years of her life and there is NOTHING in the world I would trade to have had that time with her and get to work through our issues and truly love each other and enjoy each others company. So in celebration of Mother's Day I thought I would share some of my memories of my Momma.

First off, I am adopted, and I think I have mentioned that before but I can thank my Momma for saying some things to me that let me know that being adopted was not a bad thing.

• When I was first adopted I was 5 1/2 years old and quite the inquisitive child. I guess I have always been one to contemplate things, even back then. I asked her one time if I was different because I was adopted. She told me "yes you are, I had my other children so they were mine because God gave them to me. I got to pick you so that makes you special". Ahh, wise words to say to a small child!
• I am not sure why Momma came up with this next one, but it was something I took to heart and still to this day am thankful to my biological mother for giving me up. Momma told me one time "She didn't give you up because she didn't love you. She gave you up because she loved you so much that she wanted someone to be able to love you and take care of you the way you deserved because she knew she couldn't". My biological mother was an alcoholic and I vaguely remember seeing her a few times when I was a small child, it was always with a child welfare worker as we weren't allowed to be with her alone due to the neglect that she had shown in the past.

I think it was those things that kept me from ever feeling bitter or hurt about being adopted. I know there are some that do feel that way and I always wonder if it is a nature vs. nurture thing and I think it might be a combination of both. But for now I can't think about nature vs. nurture or we will have a "Squirrel" moment and I will get off on another tangent away from the subject of this post since that can send me into literally hours of deep thought *okie hears someone snickering in the back because it's hard for folks to accept okie can be a deep thinker* HEY! STOP SNICKERING!! IT'S TRUE I TELL YOU!!

Random memories

• When I was about 13 we got a bad snow storm and we were stuck in the house. Of course living 12 miles from town there wasn't much we could go do anyway, but this time we could barely make it out and only went out to feed the cows, but my Daddy did that. I think Momma knew she needed to entertain me some how and she told me we were going to bake some potatoes the old fashion way. We proceeded to wash some potatoes, wrap them in foil and then take them to the fire place and put them in the bottom and surrounded them with coals. Every now and then we would go and turn them over and rearrange the coals. I think that was the best baked potato I ever had!
• When I was 9 my sister was getting married and Momma was making the wedding dress. I wanted to help so bad as I already knew how to sew since Momma had taught me a year earlier how to use the sewing machine. Being the wise woman she was she told me that she needed to sew the dress, because I am sure my sister would have been mortified if I had been allowed to sew her wedding dress. But truth be told I could sew better than my sister, and my sister would tell you to this day that it is completely true! Momma was able to pacify me by allowing me to hand sew the pearls on the train of the dress and told me how important it was that they were secure and how that is what was going to make the dress beautiful. I of course took right to the job and my sister was okay with me doing that task, I honestly think she knew what a tedious job it would be and she wasn't wanting to do it *okie sighs now knowing how much her sister, who was 9 years older, was really good at tricking okie into doing icky jobs but making okie think it was the best thing in the world*. I sewed for days getting the pearls on the dress and I did a very good job, my Momma and my sister even said how wonderful the pearls were and it made me feel like I had been the one to make the dress so beautiful. Of course at the wedding I bragged to everyone about how I did all the pearls and basked in the praise from all those compliments and my sister and Momma would tell them "yes she did that all by herself".

I could go on with some memories but now I need to stop because I have some things to do today and if I keep on typing this out I will never get those things done! As I sit here reading over this I can realize I have my Momma to thank for helping me be a person that accepts things whether good or bad and see the positive in most situations. I haven't always been that way, but you know how teenagers can be at times, but as an adult I went back to the things my Momma said to me and it helped me realize that even in unpleasant life moments, unusual life moments....there are positive things to focus on and realize we are blessed.

I think it boils down to that I really was given to her by God, or actually she was given to me by God, or God had her and Daddy "pick" me as their child because He knew in the end we would realize what a blessing we were to each other.

And with that....


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MY READERS!! MAY YOU BE BLESSED WITH CHERISHED MEMORIES!