This is my wonderful mother! Today she is 89 years old. Posting this dedication to her in celebration of her life and all the wonderful things she has taught me is no easy task. With every passing year I know I am growing closer to that day when she will leave this earthly life and continue on in the next one and that is going to be the saddest day ever.
My mother is a wonderful example to me and my memories of spending time with her are filled with so many heart warming experiences, I can't count them all.
When I was a kid my mom use to go to club. Every time she would get ready to leave me I would start to ball like a baby. My mom going to club meant my dad was the babysitter. I am my mother's child not my fathers, and from the minute she left I would start crying until the minute she returned. My dad use to get mad at me because I would stand out by the green hedge long after it was dark and watch for her car to come down the road, all the while sniveling and boobing like I was two. My father soon learned nothing was going to bring me inside, so there I'd wait until she pulled in to greet me.
I was the baby and I had asthma and the dearest memory I have is of my mother rocking me. I would have an attack in the night and she'd stick me in our little bathroom and turn on all the steam. She'd give me my medication and then when my breathing finally subsided into something that sounded closer to normal, she would hold me in the old cloth rocker, and rock me. I still can hear the squeaking sound that rocker made as we glided back and forth.
Where ever my mother went I followed. I was her baby and her shadow in every way when I was small. I use to ride with her in the corn truck when it was time to harvest the corn. This was something I loved as a kid. My dad would sit on the tractor and I would hang out the window and watch the big red Corn chopper spew out chopped silage. One row after another the field grew bare.
One time we were coming home from one of the fields down in Plain City. We were in the old red GMC and as we went around the very corner I live on now, the door flew open wide. My mom grabbed me in one quick flash. I thought my pants were coming straight off as she ripped hold of them and swung me back away from the door. All my life I have teased her about trying to push me out, when in fact I would have had serious injuries if she hadn't grabbed hold of me so fast.
When I think back over my childhood there are very few memories that don't contain my mother.
When I grew up she took me in the truck, hauling all my rodeo gear, horse and all to where ever I needed to go. There was not one queen contest I entered that I didn't win appearance. This is because my mother is the white tornado and the one thing she taught me early on was that a person should always be clean, pressed and crisp! I won those awards because it was my mother who put the last pressed crease in the perfect spot on my suits. She always went the extra mile in making sure every article of my clothing was perfect right down to my hat and white gloves!
When ever I look back over my life it was my mother who was always there to support me. In everything she was always right there by my side. From every rodeo to every play, she was my greatest fan.
Today I am her greatest fan. She is a wonderful example to me!!! She has lived and exemplary life that has blessed my life as well as countless others. She is the greatest example of any work ethic I've ever seen or known! And everything I enjoy in my life I owe to her, for she is the woman who gave me life and so much more!
My mother always told me growing up she didn't think she was very talented. That always bothered me. My mother is extremely talented in a myriad of different ways, ways that she doesn't see. I am grateful today to know and understand those talents! I am proud of her for those special gifts she posses. Those gifts and talents have blessed me my whole life through. I seek to emulate them and hope to be like her in many ways.
Quite a few years ago I got to play the part of Eliza Doolittle in a play our Stake put on, "My Fair Lady." After my first performance Blair Simpson came up to me raving about how much he loved the play and my role in it. I still remember his words to me after he went on and on about how much he loved the play. His last statement to me was, "You are as beautiful as your mother! You look just like her up on that stage." So many times people have given me that complement, on stage and off. I'm always so proud of that compliment. It's the greatest compliment ever, when people tell me I look just like my mother. I can only hope that at the end of my life, I truly can be, as beautiful as she is inside and out!
Happy Birthday MOM! Thank you for everything you have brought to my life!!! I love you so much! You are truly a beautiful woman and my greatest hero!
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