Last night I had the pleasure of hosting my parents for dinner.  This didn't start out as a formal get together, we have dinner together quite often because we currently live in the same building.  Many times I have gone to their unit for dinner (or just to have a snack or whatever), but on last night they actually climbed the stairs and joined my family for dinner.

My mother is one of those women that every kid dreams of having for a Grandma.  Actually, both she and my mother-in-law are like that.  My husband and I often laugh because they don't seem to be the same women that raised us, you know the "no-nonsense", "do-it-now" because "I said so" mothers!  These women seem to believe that their grandchildren are the greatest creations since sliced bread!

Our kitchen table is pretty small, so it takes a little work to get eight people around it.  I opted to sit on a stool, off to the side, and allowed my parents and my children to sit together at the table.  While I was holding the newest addition of our family in my arms, I watched the interaction between my children and my parents.  It was really neat.  I was reminded of a few months ago when my parents last "climbed the stairs" and spent the evening in our unit.  The occasion at that time was to give my children an opportunity to hear "history" from people who lived it.  My parents told us what it was like to grow up during the 1960s when this country was involved in the Civil Rights Movement.  Of course, my children wanted to know more important things like: did my parents get whippings when they were little?  Were there cars when you were a little boy?  How did you have fun without tv?  You know, the really important information that you just can't get from a book!   What a wonderful experience it was for our family

After my parents left last night and returned to their home, I continued to think about my mother.  There were so many emotions bubbling up in my heart.  First, I thought about what it was like growing up with her.  I remember thinking that no matter what was wrong, how I was hurting (whether a scratch or a broken heart), my mother could fix it.  My mom was the "safe place" to run to for comfort.  My mom was also the person that wouldn't let me do everything and go everywhere, which I really didn't like at the time, but I am so thankful for now.  She was then, and sill is, my MOM.

Well, that is me now, to my children.  It is a frightful thought because maybe I won't do as good a job as my mother did.  I embrace my children because my mother embraced me.  I talk to my daughters because my mother would curl up on my bed and listen to me talk about some boy that didn't like me anymore (grin).  I challenge my children because my mother seemed to always find a way to volunteer me for something when I was young.  It used to drive me crazy because I didn't think I could do the thing she was "making" me do, but I soon found out that I had the ability to do many things.  Talk about building up your confidence!

My mother used to tell me I was so beautiful (she still does as a matter of fact), but I never believed her because I didn't have the trappings that society said made one beautiful.  Actually, it wasn't society that I was concerned about, it was my peers.  I hear the same words coming out of my mouth to my own girls ("You are so beautiful and you have a cute face too!) and I see the look in their eyes that seems to say they want to believe me, but find it a little difficult.  I wonder if that was what my mom saw in me.

Being a mother is a tough job.  My heart aches so much for my children.  I can't begin to tell the number of times I have worried, cried, prayed (when I finally remembered that it works better) and toiled for my children.  I never knew that you could love something so much that it hurt.  Just being a mom now makes me love my mother so much more.  I can't say that I took her for granted because I was completely ignorant of what she was experiencing being a mother.  This I know for sure, of all the women on this planet that I could have been entrusted to, I am so glad that the Wisdom of God placed me in the heart and arms of Regina B. for my nurturing and upbringing.  Much of what I am today is because God worked in me, through my mother.  So, although it isn't anywhere near "Mother's Day", I want to take this time and say to my mom - Thanks for being my blessing!