MOTHER'S DAY

     Today is Mother’s Day.  A day we reserve to show Mom our appreciation for everything she does for us throughout the year.

     My Mother is gone now, but I remember Mom in many ways and how she put up with all our antics.

     When we would be playing some silly game with sticks, fighting duels, etc.  She would yell at us, “Stop that!  You might put someones eye out with those things.”  That was it...game over!  So, we would start another game.

     At the dinner table she would try to teach us some manners.  “Get your elbows off the table,” she would say, “and don’t talk with your mouth full.”

     In those day, when Mother spoke, you listened.  She had the patience of Job.  Those were the times when I wondered how she put up with us.

     During the winter, I was always forgetting my mittens and the winters in Michigan are harsh.  We ice skated to school on the frozen roads.  You would see her running after me with mittens in hand, laughing as she said, “You would forget your head if it wasn’t attached.”  She was right, I would.  She finally put my mittens on a string and put them through the arms of my jacket, so they wouldn’t get lost.

     If we dared to argue, or heaven forbid, sass Mom, she would always come back with “Don’t you use that tone with me.”

     All these things I remember with love for Mom.  I sure do miss that feisty, little, 4‘ 10 1/2” bundle of fun.  The way she filled our dreams with stories at bedtime.  It made bedtime a joy.  And the way she found time to always have fresh baked cookies and hot coco waiting for us after school.  That was extra special.  But that was my Mom.

     Many a morning I woke up to the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven  and I knew we would have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  My favorite.  

     Oh, how I miss those carefree days with Mom standing in front of the stove, with her apron on, telling us to sit down and eat before it got cold.

     We did so many things that tried her patience.  Like the time my older brother talked my younger brother into jumping off the garage with an umbrella, telling him it would be like a parachute.  Or the time we sat in a circle on the concrete, filling old 22 shell casings with match heads and hitting them with a hammer to watch them fly into the air and go “BANG”  It’s a wonder we didn’t put out someones eye with our tom foolery.

     Mom was always there when we hurt ourselves and she would soothe our hurt with a “Kiss to make it better,”  And it did.

     Don’t you wish life was a simple as it was back then?

     If your Mother is still with you, give her a big hug and tell her how much you love her.  She needs to hear those words from you.

     She will always love you, no matter what stupid thing you might do,  Mother’s are like that you know!  And I miss mine terribly.