Friday, May 08, 2009
Your Turn
It is Mother's Day weekend and so this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about your mom. Being married as many times as I have has introduced me to lots and lots of mothers, and each has given me lots of stories to share. That is what I want from all of you today. It can be something great your mom did, or it can be how your mom has embarrassed you in the past or the present. Whatever story you want to tell about your mom, or if you just want to say hi to her, you can certainly do that as well. For all of you that are mothers, I think the world of you for what you do everyday. I wish that all of you got paid $1M a month because what you do 24/7 is infinitely more valuable to society than any movie or red carpet or product endorsement. Thanks.
One of my mother's funniest stories ever...when she gave birth to me, they gave her sodium penathol, which is what they did back in the day. My mother said she kept hearing this hysterical woman screaming in the room next to her and it was driving her crazy. So she says to the nurse "Nurse, will you please shut that woman up?" to which the nurse replied "but Mrs. Rosenberg, that's you!".........
ReplyDeleteStraight up, my mom is the best. She'll do anything for me like baking things from scratch, cleaning my place when she comes over, putting money in my pocket when I see her, buying me little trinkets when she's out cause it made her think of me, and calling me with some good gossip now and again. Not to mention the fact that she is a super nice lady to almost everyone and will do things that I've said above for other people not in our family.
ReplyDeleteAnd she gives really good back scratches!
My mom is a little bit crazy (runs in the family) but she has the biggest heart in the world. She'd give the shirt off her back to me and has never made me feel anything but special.
ReplyDeleteI love you mom.
I really miss my mom, who passed away over 14 years ago. She was an opera singer, but gave it up to raise her kids as a stay at home mom. She had a beautiful voice and would sing at the opera house in front of a chorus of singers.
ReplyDeleteWell, the problem was that even though she was retired, she would still sing in the house all day long, doing housework, cooking, etc...She would do it during the summer with all of the windows open which was so embarrassing and friends would always make fun of me.
Now having her gone and all grown up now, I would give any money in the world to hear her sing so beautifully once again. I know some day I will, because she was such a good and loving woman, I know she is now singing in front of a chorus in Heaven.
my mom's been gone for a long time but she was pretty funny and i miss her every day.
ReplyDeletemy dad was very, very handsome back in the day and one night, he and my mom went to a party. my mom noticed a woman hitting on my dad and she wasn't being subtle about it either. he'd move on to talk to someone and there she'd be, trying to snuggle up to him.
before leaving the party, my mother saw this woman bending over to change a record and mom walked up behind her and kicked her right in the ass, knocking her into the record player. then she and my dad left.
My mom, my mom … I should write a book about her, and her infinite hilarity of just being. She hates the Lakers, and makes a point to watch every single game and yell out “BOO! THE LAKERS ARE RAPERS!!!”
ReplyDeleteNo idea where that came from, but on a more serious note, I have a deep amount of admiration for my mom, who came to the US as a 24 year old bride who didn’t speak any English at all, left her entire family behind, stuck through a rocky marriage with my dad, went back to her homeland to give birth to me, left when I was 2 months old hiding her jewelry in my diaper because the country was being shut down due to war, raised me, had 2 kids over the age of 40, worked as my dad’s office manager for years, and still puts up with all of us.
Even though she tends to drive me crazy at times, she has done so many courageous things in her life, and she gave me so much of that courage when I went through my divorce and became a single mom. Right now, she’s babysitting my son, and I can’t thank her nearly enough.
My mom is the best - when my grandmom got divorced (in 1942 - GO Gram) my mom was put in a foster home at the age of 18months with her brother and sister. Over the next couple of years my gram got my aunt and uncle out but left my mom. and her foster parents treated her like a servant- not fun! Mom didn't meet gram until she was 18yrs old. So my mom is one of those stoic irish woman who never wears thier heart on thier sleeve but always made us feel loved and still does! Considering how she grew up - her depth of feeling and love for my brother and i is amazing.
ReplyDeleteenty thanks for the Mom day wishes and the warm thoughts.
Happy Mom's day to all of you moms - hope it's a beautiful day filled with love for you!
My mum, after giving birth, went to the nursery to see the babies. She stopped in front of one of the cribs and said "Good lord, look at the size of the feet on that one!"
ReplyDeleteYeah...it was me. Thanks mum, for the boats. They keep me balanced :)
My mom was all Mary Tyler Moore back in the day. She graduated from college in 1959 and practically all of her classmates got married within the month and started making babies. My mom took a 9 month trip around Europe by herself, moved to the big city, and started hanging out with intellectuals, like my dad. Then when she realized she had better start having children before it was too late, she got pregnant, twice, in her 40s and became a great mom. And despite all of this, she's no bra-burning feminist. She's just a woman who did her own thing. Now as a 70+ year-old grandmother, she has a busier social life than my little sister or I do. The great irony is, she has no self-esteem, despite all that she's done.
ReplyDeleteMy mom is very religious. She is not fanatical, but she is prudish. I used to have terrible cramps during that time of the month. One day as I was laying on the heating pad wishing for a quick death my mom said to me, "You know once you get married you probably won't get cramps anymore." I was 15 at the time and wondered how marriage could get rid of the cramps. It wasn't until a couple of years later I figured out she really meant sex.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNancer-
ReplyDeleteFunniest. Story. EVER!!!!
Thanks for sharing!
I'm not married (anymore, thank God!), and don't have kids, but I agree with Ent that all of you mothers never get enough recognition for doing the toughest and most important job on the planet.
ReplyDeleteMy mother is hands down a freakin' saint for putting up with all the abuse and shit from my dad just for the sake of us 5 kids for the past 64 years. She gave up everything for us.
How does one say thank you for that
In for the comments
ReplyDeleteMy mom was just the best--warm, loving, full of laughter and appreciation for the smallest pleasures of life. She was the kind of person who never made you feel bad, never said an intentionally hurtful word, yet still managed to convey it when I did something wrong. She was just a very easy person to be around. And best cook ever.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was a very charismatic person--very larger than life high profile lawyer--but my mom was the one who kept all us going. Mom, if you're up there reading the internets, please know that I miss you every single day.
My mom was the best! Although she passed away 6 years ago, I feel as though I miss her more everyday. I was not the easiest child to deal with, I was the youngest and only boy. I went through a really rough patch in my life between 18-21 (who hasn't?) and was really tough on her. I said many things that I did not mean. When I found out she had cancer and the doctors gave her 4-6 months I needed to spend time with her. I eventually apologized to her but for some reason I feel like that wasn't enough. When she died a few weeks later, it was the toughest thing that I have ever has to deal with. The thing that surprises me the most is how spot on she was about everything she ever told me or tried to tell me. I wish I could tell her that! I also wish that she could meet my 3 month old daughter that she would cherish! Remember to tell you Mother often how much she means to you. There will be a day when you can't and please make sure that you feel that nothing went unsaid because take it form me, it is a lot to deal with. I love you Mom, I hope you are proud and I will see you in a few decades!
ReplyDeleteMy mom (& dad too) raised 6 kids (born in 7 years) and there was always an extra kid or two she took in for various reasons. She got cancer at 41 and after the initial round of chemo was in remission for 7 years before it came back and took her from us. Our family is very close, never argue and we all have wonderful children of our own. This comes from our Mom for sure. She took no bull from any of us but always let us know she cared. There were over 700 people at her funeral and many shared stories of how mom helped them and took them in whenever they needed it. I still miss her everyday (she died in 1992) but thank God that he made her My Mom. I believe that she is always near and watches over us and her Grandchildren and is a calming influence when things get tough. I Love You And Miss You Mom
ReplyDeleteMy mom raised my three brothers and I after my dad died far too early from cancer. She somehow managed to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. She ended doing more than suriving but she created a name for herself in business (after being a stay at home mom for 20 years) and is the classiest woman I'll ever know. Dad has been gone for 26 years now and she's never even been on a single date. She says he was the love of her life and no one could compare.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day mom.
I could talk about my mom all day. To sum this up, she is my best friend. She knows me better than anyone else. She will help anyone in need. She is the most forgiving person that I know. I am currently pregnant with my first child and can only hope to be as good of a mom as she is.
ReplyDeleteLove you MOM :)
i'd do anything, give anything, to have my mom for just one more day.
ReplyDeleteshe lost a 16 year battle w/ MS 2 1/2 years ago, her passing was unexpected and continues to devastate me each and every day.
but wow. what an amazing and extraordinary mother.
she was a piano child prodigy in our native cuba, and at the age of 8 was sent off to conservatory in havana.
in her teens she was sent to st. petersburg (then leningrad) to study in the russian method/school, and upon returning back to cuba was promptly sent back to russia for "re-education" for speaking out against the cuban communist revolution.
we finally defected cuba in 1971 thanks to the freedom flights. these were an "aerial bridge" established by lyndon b. johnson's administration that ran from 1965-1973 and brought over a total of 250,000 cubans, many of us political refugees (which my dad was...but i'll save that story for father's day). one of my mother's greatest joys was having been able to meet and thank lbj in person for her freedom. she also toured internationally with symphonies from CA, NY and TX. she was brilliant. a true savant at her craft.
her greatest sadness was being blacklisted and never being allowed re-entry into cuba when cuba began allowing cuban-americans entry visas to visit family. it pained her to look at our birth certificates and original passports, all stamped with the ministry of the interior's "null and void" stamp. we were citizens of no land, traitors to a revolution we didn't believe in. i still hear her words to this day, and echo her sentiment: "i didn't betray the revolution. the revolution betrayed me.".
she had an incredible ability to pick up languages, and was completely fluent in 4--never having formally studied any other than our native spanish. incredible, but according to her, "common in people w/ a good ear".
she was beautiful, a petite little blond thing with huge honey-colored eyes. she was graceful and soft-spoken...with little bitty hands that would create magic every time they touched the piano keys.
if i can one day be a small percentage of who she was, i'll be one amazing heck of a human being.
When I was around 8 years old or so, I decided that I was going to stop swimming in pool because I was sick of getting ear infections and swimmer's ear (very painful).
ReplyDeleteFor a few weeks, I sat next to the pool, reading books and refusing to get in.
One day, my mom picked me up as a joke and held me over the pool, yelling that I was being ridiculous and had to jump in sometime.
She threw me in the pool. Fully clothed. Wearing sneakers. I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT SHE DID THAT.
I screamed like crazy and emerged from the pool, punching her and calling her a jerk as she laughed hysterically and the whole family joined in the laughter.
Well, it worked. After that, I was back to swimming like a normal person.
That was 16 years ago. Happy Mother's Day, CDAN moms!
Awww thank you! I love people ( especially men ) who adore mamas. Its so nice to hear, especially since the person I had children with would never tell me this. Argh..exes are exes for a reason right? anways.. very sweet comment and thanks again :)
ReplyDeleteHappy mothers day mommies!
I love my mom. She is the woman and person I strive to be. She came from less than humble beginnings, no one ever encouraged her that she could be somebody or do anything, she was abused in ways that would get her taken away today and still...still...she knew she was worthy. She knew that all she had to do was be willing to work hard. And she did. Today,she is a homeowner, a business owner, my hero, and the friend of not only her loved ones, but her employees and everyone around her. I have TRULY never known her to do an evil thing, EVER. And that's saying a lot. Because I think we all have that little evil streak now and then when you know you shouldn't do something, but you do it anyway. Not her. She always takes the high road and is the definition of class. My mom wore my grandmother's ring as her wedding ring until the band grew so thin that it was about to split. She and my dad went to the jeweler's to get new battery in his watch and while they waited, she browsed wedding sets. She found one she loved and they discussed replacing Grandma's ring with one he bought for her. She talked about that set for months. At Christmas, my dad decided to buy her her own wedding set. So he took me to help pick it out. I didn't have any idea what I was looking for, being only about 19, but I tried on every set in the store and finally decided on one. Christmas morning, she opened the ring and burst out crying. My dad said, "Jennifer (me) helped me pick it out." And she looked at me and said, tearfully, "How did you know?" It was the set she'd been talking about forever. Best payback moment for my mom I could think of. To my best friend and inspiration, Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteI often post here, but am using the anon option today.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a happy Mother story, even now. From the physical and mental abuse from her to the condoning of my stepfather doing the same to the blatant favouritism of my siblings, we've a pretty messed up relationship. I love her mother more.
Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer :(
As a mom myself, I love reading these happy, sad, funny stories!
ReplyDeleteMy mom married an alcoholic thinking she could change him...she couldn't, and put up with him for 50 years(he eventually got sober years after I left home on my 18th birthday and became a decent guy). My childhood was not the greatest, she spent more time taking care of him than me, because he and a bottle of vodka became close personal friends each and every night.
That being said, I realize I am a stronger person because of this. I am independent, resilient, and tenacious. I will fight for what I want, and I fiercely protect my own kids who thank God don't have my baggage thanks to a great therapist who helped me throw it all out the window :-).
If I did not have the childhood I had, I don't think I'd be this way...So mom, even though you have your faults, you still had a hand in shaping who I am today, so thank you.
My mom is an old school hippie that still wears tie dyed tee shirts and band shirts that are true vintage. She took me to tons of shows and festivals when I was young, taught me how to bake and used to string flowers through my hair. She joined a pretty infamous cult when I was twelve and I was forced to move in with my dad because I refused to go to church shortly after. My dad is one of my best friends so it wasn't a bad move. I didn't have a lot to do with my mom for years and years after that. She finally left that cult about 4 years ago. I guess it was really messy and many members stalked her for close to a year trying to get her to come back. We have now formed a ( trying to be ) closer relationship. I have her over for dinner a couple times a month and as long as we stay of religion ( I am agnostic ) we get along fine. She still wears tie die dresses and has hair down to her bum and can sing the hell out of a Tom Petty tune. I am glad to have her back.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom is a real tripp!! With a double TT My father died in Vietnam so.....she was a widow at 29 years old with four kids... she saved every dime, we ate left- overs often,went to private school, all went to college....
ReplyDeleteMy mother taught me to work hard that nothing is a free ride, that there is no reason to fail if you really want something....she sent herself back to college in her late thirties got her BS then graduated with an MBA a few years later.
She gets on my nerves and I suppose I would not have it any other way
I love you Attrice!!
Always, V
I was adopted by my grandparents who kept it a secret from me while my mother remained in my life. Ask Bobby Darin and Jack Nicholson about this.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that my grandmother was the best mother I could have ever had. She died while I was on my honeymoon. Her last wish was to make it to my wedding, and she had a wonderful time. My parents were married 49 years. Awesome people.
R.I.P. mom. I miss you.
ReplyDeleteLove Always
Your Baby
I hope I got this anonymous thing right. I feel bad that I can't really think of a loving Mother story. While I had and continue to have pretty much everything I ever wanted, I also have a Mother who makes me feel undeserving.
ReplyDeleteI love my Mother, but it's a tough, complicated relationship. My Father is an absolute angel and the hero of my life. If you asked the Queen (as Mother refers to herself) she'd tell you she's warm and caring. I guess if she believes it that's all that matters.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers here and also to the Fathers who had to be Mothers to their children.
Enty, thanks for acknowledging what Moms do! I gave up my career to stay home with my son and I have no regrets at all.
ReplyDeleteMy mom married a week after turning 16. I was born a year later. She worked so hard at crappy, thankless jobs to make our lives better, and even after her divorce from Dad 15 years later, we never really knew how hard it was for her. She is a very stoic woman. She remarried (and my stepfather rocks for loving us all so much), and still remains my biggest cheerleader.
I got to do all the things she didn't- go to college, have a career, wait to get married and start my family. I'm sure she sometimes wishes it had been easier, but she made me the woman I am today. Thanks Mom!
all i will say is I LOVE YOU MUMMY!! because you always was here for me! Je t'aime maman!!!
ReplyDeleteNo real story, just that I was born on Mother's Day, popped out before the doctor could get to the delivery room (was scrawny until I turned 18).
ReplyDeleteOh, and this is the matchup year where the b-day falls on Mother's Day.
ReplyDeleteI first got my period the last day of 5th grade. We lived in a super small town, population: 500, and had to bus over to the next biggest town to go to school. When I got off the bus the last day of 5th grade I was mortified to find out that my mom had told EVERYONE that I had gotten my period and was now a woman. At age 11. Mortifying.
ReplyDeleteI do love my mom, though, and now that I'm a mom myself, it makes me appreciate all the things she went through as a single mom.
My mother Janice is my heroine and champion. As I get ready for Mother’s Day, I celebrate our relationship and remember three pieces of advice my mother gave me. They’ve stayed with me throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteFirst, be careful what you pray for. You might get it. This never made sense to me until I prayed to lose 10 pounds to fit into my prom dress. I contracted a stomach virus and was as sick as a dog, but I did manage to squeeze into the dress. I would have preferred a different way, but I should have been more specific.
Second, always wear clean panties when you go out in case you are in an accident and have to go to the hospital. Sure enough, I DID get into an accident, but when I got to the hospital, NO ONE LOOKED! Maybe that advice was bogus, but I still do it.
Finally, Mother told me never to try to be a “perfect mother” because she doesn’t exist.
Instead, she told me to be a happy mother and raise a happy child. My daughter, Jenda, is now 5.
My mother passed away 14 years ago, but her advice still resonates with me, and I realize that the love that a mother has for a child transcends life, death, and everything in between
These stories are wonderful. Really lovely to read. My relationship with my mum is quite complex, there are significant times in my life where she has let me and my sister down, times when we really, really needed her. But I still adore her.
ReplyDeleteI'm the baby of the family and she had me when she was in her 40s; My mum is now nearly 73 and for the last 40yrs she's been going to the hairdressers every monday. Every Monday. Even when in hospital delivering kids her hairdresser came and did her hair. LOL. She gets up at 6am every day to do her make up, won't even venture downstairs without it, let alone out the house. She looks sensational. But she is obsessive about image. Image is everything to her. This drives me insane, i must admit.
I love how every single time i call her (she lives in UK, i'm in Oz) you can hear the happiness in her voice. Even if i only called her the day before. I think it's adorable that every morning before she has her breakfast she presses play on the answering machine and listens to her little grandson talking to her 'hello grammy....', I love receivng parcels in the mail from her and i love surprising her with a gift certificate for a facial or pedicure. I love how she strove to put me into a mainstream school so i could be 'normal' instead of sending me to a school for the blind (though in hindsight, i now realise i absolutely should have gone to a place where they could cater for me, but i don't blame her she was only doing what she thought was best).
I love how she's always putting whatever money she can into my UK bank account so i can spend it 'just on yourself', i love how she came over for my wedding and the birth of my boys; though i don't love it so much when her and my husband have to be in the same room as they can't stand each other :) I miss her wonderful cooking and am just grateful that she taught me and i'm now a pretty decent cook for my boys.
I love her so much and am truly grateful for having her in my life. I'm also sending out a big Happy Mother's day to all us mummies out there, i hope you all get spoilt and pampered for the day!
C.xxxx
My mother was alright with me, but I always felt that she had a deeper caring for my brother. She had always wanted a boy and said so on many occasions. When she got pregnant a second time, it was a boy too, but she wasn't able to carry it to term. When she finally got pregnant a third time, she got me; a girl. She's never came out and said nasty things to me, but it's always been there looming over me.
ReplyDeleteWhen my brother got divorced, my parents helped him through everything and he even came back home to live with us. When it got to her ears that my ex-s-i-l said that my mother couldn't cut the apron strings (which is true, she goes to his house to do his laundry), she went on a rant about him being her 'only' child. Not son, CHILD. The hell was I all of this time, a throwaway?? She did try to rephrase, but I had already heard it.
Wow, 4 years later and I can still feel the sting of that one.
I would love to have kids one day, but if it all means I'm going to repeat her mistakes, then I think I'll get a dog instead.
My Mother was a borderline psychotic and would go off on us at the drop of a dime...but she was funny as all get out. I really don't miss the abusive stuff, but I often think, I have to call Mother and ask her what she thinks about this. Of course, she has an unlisted number.
ReplyDeleteI am teary-eyed with a lump in my throat from reading all these wonderful tributes. While I didn't have a very happy childhood, I am very grateful that my mother and I resolved all issues before she died.
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about being a Mom for me is that I have a chance to learn from my Mom's mistakes and create a better environment for my kids.
Happy Mother's Day and thanks for a fantastic "Your Turn".
My Mom is my hero. She married my Dad at 18 years old...he was 30. Yeah, I thought he might be a perv too...lol. She came from a horrible background, drunk father who beat them all on a regular basis. Gram started drinking too because it was easier to deal with him. My Mom was 9 years old cleaning up after them when they had their benders. Needless to say, she grew up way too fast. Her and Dad went as far away as they could get from her parents. She had me at 19, living in a small mining town way up north, no friends, crappy Dr....no idea what was going to happen when she gave birth to me. We moved to a bigger town when I was one and my sister came along a couple years later. Mom had quit highschool to marry Dad, and she stayed home with us kids until we were in grade school. She would come to the school to help out all the time. Until one day, I asked her why she couldn't be like the other Mom's and get a job....NICE! Kids can be so mean!! Anyhow, she DID! She went back to high school to complete grade 12. She would walk me and my sister to school, then walk over to the high school and pick us up after. No long distance learning, she sat in a classroom at 27 years old with a bunch of kids and did awesome! After that she went to college and started working full time as a care aide. Her and my Dad are STILL together, against all the odds. My Mother truly is the most giving person I have ever met. She is my best friend, and my hero. I am a mother now and realize just how hard it is......and I strive to be as good a mom as she's been. I love you so much Mom, you are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteMy mother's claim to fame was that she was the one at all the choral and band performances, parades, and half-time shows running around with camera flashing--for 12 years...four kids, three years apart, three years each. A camera flash would go off and everyone would say, "Mrs. S must be here."
ReplyDeleteAnd she taught me to write thank-you notes and be able to start a conversation with anyone.
And she makes the best pot roast in the world.
And, sometimes when I go back to her house to visit, she still brings me breakfast in bed.
My mom was one of the funniest, most caring people I knew. She was self-deprecating and made me laugh every day. She raised her kids with good values and helped us become "good eggs" so to speak.
ReplyDeleteMy mom would do ANYTHING for her kids - whether that meant typing a research paper at the last minute, picking us up at all hours if the car broke down, and putting up with many, many hours of loud music.
My mom died of cancer 6 years ago. She was so brave. I could never face what she did with such courage.
I love you Mom. I wish I could have taken some of your suffering away. And I wish you were here to see how your kids are progressing. I hope I am making you proud!
Yeah my mom was a raging bitch who didn't love me. This "Your Turn" can kiss my ass.
ReplyDelete(Good God, I can't believe how long this post is - forgive me!)
ReplyDeleteI am loving all of your stories, inspirational and not so - may all of you who had such wonderful moms continue on with their legacy, and those of you with difficult childhoods, here's to the fact that you're survivors - that is equally admirable, and more difficult.
As for me, I know this won't matter to anyone but me, but I have to take this opportunity to honor mom.
I have wonderful, wonderful parents, but this is about moms, so I'll talk about her.
My mom came from a culture, and a time, when women didn't necessarily have a lot of control over their lives, but being the baby of the family, with parents who did appreciate education, she graduated college, traveled extensively (come to think of it, more than me!) and was a teacher until she married my dad.
She has been a remarkable wife to him (he would agree wholeheartedly) and the best mom. She isn't perfect, of course, but she taught me to be sensitive, to care for others, to respect myself and loves me unconditionally - really, truly - regardless of my decisions. I am unmarried and won't be giving her grandchildren it seems clear, but despite of her cultural expectations, I know that it doesn't matter to her as long as I'm happy.
One of the most important things she has taught me, is how to be at peace with my circumstances and be hopeful for the future. Even in my darkest times, I believe that things will work out, and I learned to develop that ability through my mom (my parents). I am especially grateful for that ability these days, you can imagine.
And finally - and I wonder if it's just me who values this - seeing how she is aging, it is creating a great blueprint for me. She is wrinkled and beautiful, happy with who she is, what she looks like, without benefit of surgery. She doesn't have an envious bone in her body, and when I find myself falling into the modern traps of not being thin enough, young enough, whatever enough, I think about her (or call her), and I get my head back on straight again.
Enty, I've never commented before, and I also want to take this opportunity to tell you how much I like your site, and how much I enjoy all of the posters. Sometimes, your comments are just what I need to get my day on track. I'm not a blogger, so I don't ever have a chance to comment except where there is the anonymous function.
If my mom could comment here, she would tell you that you're all good people regardless of your flaws, and that you deserve to be happy. And then she'd give you a huge hug, which would be amusing, since she is the shortest person I have ever met, truly tiny, like some kind of living Disney character.
Happy Mom's Day to all of you - and especially your mom, Ent - we wouldn't have you around, otherwise!
I miss my mom terribly. She just passed away in January and although I know she is better off not being sick anymore, I miss our nightly 10:00 chats on the phone.
ReplyDeleteShe and dad (who is awesome in his own right) raised 8 kids. She was a stay at home mom who loved it when one of us was "sick" or missed the bus and had to stay home with her. She enjoyed having one on one time with each of us.
A wicked sense of humor. Always able to chat with anyone. Did not pass judgement on people. Truly loved with all her heart and was loved by so many people.
I could go on for hours, but two funny things that pop into my head were when she road around on my brothers small dirt bike while wearing a dress and having no clue how to ride and use the throttle and brake! Too funny!!!
The other is when she tried using my makeup one day. (this from a woman who never wore makeup except lipstick and that was only on special occasions) She didn't know that masscara was for the eyelashes and put it on her eyebrows. She looked like Groucho Marx!!! Hilarious.....
Anyway, I love and miss her and know she watches over me everyday.
I love you mom. Tell Brian and Dennis we miss them as well.
XOXO Me :)
I'm so sorry for those of you who have lost your moms or weren't lucky enough to have amazing moms like some of us. My mom is the best person I know. She's a psychologist, so she takes care of other people all day, then takes even better care of her family. She'd give us everything she has, but she's also way too smart to let us get away with any crap. :) I love you, Mom!
ReplyDeleteThere are six boys in our family, spaced about a year apart. In an attempt to keep her sanity, our mom made little vest harnesses for us and every once in a while would clip each (all) of us to individual clothesline wires in the backyard, leaving us to run back and forth and tangle up while she took a short break. If you'd been pretty good, you'd get hooked to one of the two wires that reached the sandbox. Neighbors were worried we'd strangle each other but it was more Twister than deadly.
ReplyDeleteNeighbors also recalled hearing our mom yelling out random names from the back step a few weeks before each of us was born. She told them she knew she'd be yelling the name for 18 years and wanted to make sure to pick the right one.
When asked why she got along with her mother-in-law so well, mom replied "because she keeps her mouth shut and her pocket book open."
Gosh, I really don't even know where to go with this. I've had such polar opposite "lifetimes." My birth mother was an alcoholic/drug addict who abandoned us on Mother's Day in 1987. It also happened to be her birthday. I remember her getting drunk in the kitchen (I could see her from the bed I was in) and she was saying quite loudly, "It's fucking Mother's Day! And what do I get?!" She left that night and we didn't hear from her for months.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I had gone to live with my paternal aunt in NC. My aunt and uncle eventually adopted me after paying my mother a sufficient sum for her to give up her rights as a mother. My aunt, who I will always consider my "REAL MOTHER" was the best mother ever. She doted on me. She made beautiful clothes and dolls for me by hand even though she had one of the worst cases of arthritis any doctor had ever seen. I was the stray puppy who had been kicked around and finally found a good owner to take her in. My mother lost her life to RA when she was 46 in February of 1994. My birth mother lost her life to AIDS exactly one year later in February of 1995.
Needless to say, Mother's Day can be quite tough for me. Rather bittersweet, considering I have 4 kids of my own....
My mom put up with me and taught me by example how to put up with my own Princess Diva teen. ;>
ReplyDeleteThanks Little Tiny Elf Mom!
My mother, there are not enough words in the world to describe her.
ReplyDeleteBorn in the thirties thrown out of home at 15 with almost no education she went on to study nursing and became a matron at 21. She went on to have a huge career in mothercraft and put her career first until she was 35. Then she married a man 15 years younger than herself and had my brother and me just before her 40th birthday. She continued to work while having a young family and was so successful that my father was the one who was home in the afternoons and made our school lunches.
At 58 my mother received a Masters in Nursing Management even though she never graduated from high school! At 75 my mother continues to work, running her own business and has written and published 7 books. To say my Mother was ahead of her time, or that she lived her life and broke down barriers such as marrying a much younger man or waiting until her late 30's to have children or having a career and a family at the same time is an understatement. Sometimes I resented my Mother because of her career, or felt embarrassed because she was so much older than my friends mothers but now I just feel amazing respect and pride for all my mother has done.
I've been known to give my mom fathers day cards as well as mothers day cards because my dad died when I was 10. My mom is extremely generous and I don't know how many of mine and my brother's friends also call her mom. I also lost count of how many of our friends lived with us at various times because they needed a place to stay.
ReplyDeleteShe married my dad the week after she graduated from high school and found out later that my grandma told the beauty school that wanted to give her a scholarship that she didn't need it because she was getting married. That always miffed her! She had never had a job when my dad died.
My mom started college the same time I did and went to school full time and held a full time job too. I loved being in college with her! She introduced me to my to-this-day best friend in college. I always find it funny that, when she was my age, I was a junior in college and I have kids that are 7 and 9.
Through some of her unfortunate dating experiences, I learned much. She taught me to be my own person and to be independent (sometimes a bit to my husband's chagrin when I want to traipse off to places unknown by myself). She helped create my love for travel and often travels with me (although I tell her she only takes me with so she doesn't get lost!)
I can always count on her if I have something exciting to share or something disappointing that I need to get off my chest.
We have our moments but we'd drop everything in second if needed.
OK my mom was your typical LEAVE IT TO BEAVER mom. Bake Cookies (although she couldn't bake to save her soul), PTA, homeroom mom. She was truly the nicest sweetest person alive. She should have been a nun.
ReplyDeleteWell I grew up next to the schools and near the place the team practiced football. Which lead to some fun times. In the fall the high school team is practing when I was a freshmen.
there was a really cool good looking senior boy ALL the girls liked and most of the guys wanted to be. J. was Hollywood Handsome.
Mom and I are sitting on the front deck talking about my day. J comes running back to his truck which is parked by the field near my house. My mom stops midsentence to ask who that boys is. I tell her and say who his parents are. She tells me loudly (not realising her voice can carry the twenty ft to the street)"he's really handsome." I blush tell her "yes he is and he's funny too." I notice J. is blushing. Mom must not have thought I was sincere enough because she gets louder and says " No really he's handsome. He's got a really great set of legs and a FINE ass" (supriseing words for my mom)
Now I'm embarassed and glance at J. who is STARING open mouthed and RED faced at my apple pie mom. I LOSE it and proceed to laugh and hug her and agree that " Yes he truly is." I guess that is the first time I saw mom as a WOMAN & that older didn't mean dead yet.
Love and miss her more then words can say. HUG YOUR MOMS FOR ME PEOPLE.
My mom is 5'2" and petite and one afternoon 2 huge guys tried to grab her purse from her in a grocery store parking lot.
ReplyDeleteOne grabbed her arm while the other tried to pull the purse away from her. She wouldn't give it up. She stood her ground and just said "No, I don't fucking think so!" over and over and they just gave up and ran away.
She didn't react that way because she was worried about losing the money or credit cards, but purely based on principle. The "I refuse to be a victim and let 2 assholes take something from me like they have the right" type attitude.
It may not have been the smartest reaction if you ask a cop, but I absolutely love that she didn't let these dicks get the better of her. She completely pwned 2 huge dudes in public! Awesome.
Love that lady and have endless admiration for her.
My mom is great. She is really strong but she doesn't make a big deal out of anything. She just likes to have a good time. She's a chef and a sommelier, and she runs a lunch restaurant/ catering service. Before my dad passed away, they had a restaurant together and both worked really hard. She still works her ass off even though she is in her late 50's. She will not have anyone feeling sorry for her for being widowed. She loves food, loves good wine, loves to talk about food and wine, loves to laugh. Annoys the shit out of me some times but that's her job. I love her to death and I can't WAIT to see her when I go home this summer!
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day to all of you...those who are mothers and those who have mothers, whether they are still around or not.
I just want to say my mom is dead, and I miss her.
ReplyDeleteMy mother and I no longer talk to or communicate with each other for several reasons. It is a very messy situation and I don't see it resolving itself any time soon. There will be no acknowledgment, sadly.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note regarding my mother-
Watching home videos with neighborhood friends, all of us around the ages of 6-9, I about 7, and a random clip pops up, accidentally, of my naked mother dancing for my dad who is filming-and narrating-the action. Humiliated, I covered up the screen with a couch cushion until my mother came running into the living room to try and stop the tape. The neighborhood friends, who were all boys unfortunately, cracked up and no one has forgotten it 15 years later. It comes up from time to time and my mother quickly changes the subject.
I miss her every day. Four years and my heart is still broken, she was only 64.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for all of you that still have that bond :)
Live and Love as much as you can!
yeah, I'm sappy.
These are all such great mom stories -- even the sad ones. Becoming a single mom is the best thing tht ever happened to me, for more than one reason. Sometimes I think I should have remained a single mom. Oh well...
ReplyDeleteWhile I love my mom and I owe a lot to her, my grandma should also get plenty of credit for raising me.I spent nearly as many hours at her house as I did at my own.
Grandma Opal was very old school country, in equal parts Ma Kettle and Granny Clampett. She was my Grandpa Bird's third wife. According to my aunt, my grandpa chose my grandma, a 35-year-old spinster who still lived with her mother, because she would be good at raising his children.
(My aunt also claimed that my grandma's mother tried to throw herself down a well in an attempt to keep my grandma from marrying my grandpa, but that's probably a whole other story.)
In any case, she didn't have my dad until she was well into her 40s, and was in her 60s by the time we came along.
My sister and I would often go to my grandma's house after school. Her little two-bedroom house was right across the railroad tracks in our tiny village, and was an easy walk from our school.
That little shack held a collection of antiques, but nothing there was just for show. The vintage cookware, china and furniture she used daily were simply pieces of her life, and not something to be revered.
While my sister spent more time out playing with her friends, I spent my hours learning everything I could from Grandma. She taught me how to cook, sew and quilt. (Actually, I think I learned how to quilt from Grandma's brother, my Great Uncle Danny. But that's another story as well.) She also helped me with my homework, until my studies expanded beyond those of her meager education.
Even without a fancy education, my grandma taught me a lot about life. She treated everyone with respect and compassion, and never knew a stranger. She never assumed she was entitled to anything, and was always thankful with whatever she had.
My grandma claimed to have never worked a day in her life, but she was always helping out someone,even as her own health began to fail.
She spent most of the last decade of her life in and out of a nursing home. She died a few years ago, just before her 95th birthday.
In my time, I have lost many people who are dear to me.I miss my grandma the most.
I really have no happy mom stories, my mom was and still is rather crazy. I'm the only girl in my family and she seemed to take all her issues and anger out on me. It could have been the fact the all the men in her life either beat her or treated her like shit including my father as well as her father and future boyfriends to come. She even went so far as to let my rapist continue to live with us granted it only happened one time and she beat him up afterwards. Anyway,she is money hungry and numerous times has stolen my money. But some good things about her are when I tell her I need her whether it be financially or physically she tries hard to be there.She has sacrificed a lot for me and my brothers. So I guess despite the lack of trust and general dislike of some of the things she's done to me I still love her. So happy mother's day mom.
ReplyDeleteAs I noted a few posts above, my mother and I have a horrible relationship, but her mother was the nicest, humblest, and beautiful woman. Never ever had an unkind word, was always genuine in sympathy and suffered great pain from cancer treatments and did not self-pity though she very easily could have. Some malpractice was involved, but she never let it get to her and she put everyone-EVERYONE-above herself. She would give us "goodie bags" whenever we visited-candy and money in a plastic baggie. She was the sweetest woman you could ever know. Never through the 17 years I knew her did I see a bad side of her. She saw the good in everyone and was a very, very rare soul. When I went through some of my troubled teen years, most of my family turned on me instead of realizing my cries for help, but she was there to talk and let me vent and never judged. She has a very large and permanent place in my heart, and truth be told, she is possibly the one person in my family I have ever truly loved for the undying support she provided for anyone and everyone. My favorite memories are of her reading books to me on her porch swing when I was little. Any book was fair game and she did not mind how many I wanted her to read to me. She worked at the Stanford University library for 20 years and never missed a day of work and every student and employee loved her. She was a rare soul who you just couldn't dislike. It was impossible.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather met her when they were 16 at a bowling alley and wed when they were 19 and 20 respectively. They had a very solid marriage. I went to high school down the street from their apartment and visited her 2-3 times a week. Through the last few years, she was often in bed and I remember she loved Regis and Kelly. And David Letterman. There is no woman I know like her-never once heard her yell or react in disgust or disdain, only sympathy.
I tend to be pretty stoic and closed off in all types of relationships for several reasons-but she touched my heart, and I am one of many. I love you, Grandma, and you truly were a beautiful angel. I'm actually tearing up typing this. Happy Mothers Day! I will always, always love you and cherish every moment and memory I have of you.
My mom has been gone 25 years last month, and that realization has sucked more than I can even say.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite memories was when I returned to school after a long illness and came out after the first day back with a bunch of what were known as white slips. It was basically a disciplinary action because of a quantity of unfinished work. I was really pissed, and went out to the car and told my mom, who drove around to the teachers lot, got out of the car, tore the slips up in the teacher's face, threw the shards into his convertible and asked him (he was the only lay teacher in the catholic school) right in front of the nuns "just how much of an asshole are you REALLY?"
Then she took me to an A's game.
My mom took no shit from nobody. I try every day to be as solid a role model to my sons as she was to me.
My mother makes me proud. She's highly computer-literate, keeps her life in a Palm Pilot, owns and file-manages two iPods, (one for music and one for audiobooks and podcasts) and plays competitive bridge. She's at the gym four days a week - swimming and aerobics. Three weeks ago she bought herself a new sewing machine online, and has already made and hung dining room curtains with swags.
ReplyDeleteAnd she's 86 years old.
My grandma - taught me that I can do anything, and took the time to show me how. She gave esteem, validation, cooked like crazy, and was so proud of me, I couldn't help but drive myself on - just to make sure I was worthy of her pride. Alzheimer's sucks. I know she's in Heaven with Dads, making the best yeast rolls ever. I miss you.
ReplyDeleteMy mother - a single parent, with a tough, disclipined mom, who raised 3 girls solo sometimes with 3 jobs - no choice. She asked me to be an adult at 8, when my sisters were born, and I did. All I did was school, take care of her home, and her children. But I knew she loved me and wished things were otherwise. When I left her home with honors and full scholarship, she was sad, but understood why I was ready to go. It was my time.
She tells me still today that I can do anything, and that she's nothing but proud of me as well - that I have been nothing but a joy and blessing to her. I believe her. She's smart, caring, the best cook in the US, a believer in karma, good people, martyrdom, and that you should be nice to everyone, take no crap, say your prayers, thank God for your blessings, and work hard at the office.
I give her a hard time, because frankly, I want to give her everything in the universe, and now, at 65, let her do everything she never had a chance to do. If she asks for something - even when she doesn't - and I can provide it, it's hers. Period.
As I am her oldest, we have come a long way together. I never get tired of saying:
I love you.
You're awesome.
Color doesn't matter.
Size doesn't matter.
What's inside matters.
You can do anything.
You can go anywhere.
There's NOTHING you can't do.
The very things she told me, I tell her now.
I hope she believes me, too.
Happy Mother's Day to those women who bring the goods, every day.
And love you, ma.
Mom story - in 2001, I was lucky enough to be able to take my mom on her first full on vacation, and international trip - to Australia. She had a great time.
ReplyDeleteUpon return home, my mother said the words I thought I'd never hear -
"I going to retire next month."
And she did. 35 years at AT&T.
She travels regularly now.