"M" is for the Million Things She Gave Me

It's mother's day, quite possibly my favorite day of the year.  This picture-perfect day came complete with church, fresh flowers, a brunch buffet, a nap, a walk, and plenty of precious gifts, handmade with love by my children.  Bliss.  The only thing that could have made today any better would have been the chance to spend some time with my own mother.

As a little girl, we learned a corny song called "M is for the Million Things She Gave Me" at a church mother-daughter banquet and an off-key tradition was born.  The song goes something like this:

M is for the million things she gave me.
O means only that she's growing old.
T is for the tears she shed to save me.
H is for her heart of purest gold.
E is for her eyes with love light shining.
R means right and right she'll always be. 
Put them all together they spell mother.  The word that means the world to me.

We usually call and sing this song to my mom every mother's day. It's a race to see who can call first.  This year, I had to leave a message so my sister won.  Hopefully writing about it will earn me some extra points.

My mother became a mom when she was barely eighteen years old.  She and my dad moved into a small house located kitty-corner from where her parents still live, in the house where my mom grew up.  She tells about being in her house at night, home alone with me when I was new baby.  She was scared and lonely.  She would look across to her parent's house and want so badly to go home.  But she didn't.  She stuck it out.

As a child I never realized how young my mom was.  I guess having a baby at eighteen makes you grow up fast. I was soon joined by a sister and then a brother.  The three of us meant everything to mom.  She was a natural.  She didn't read parenting books or join a mommy group.  She just seemed to know what to say and do.  I grew up in the care of a mother who was kind, fair, gentle, funny, understanding, patient and strong.  Her loving example remains the heart of our family. 

On her first mother's day, my mom was just a girl.  Today, she is mom to three grown children, all of whom have college degrees and successful, happy lives.  She's also a mother-in-law and a beloved grandma to four grandchildren. 

Growing up, we may not have had everything we wanted but, because of our mom, we had everything we needed - and then some.  It's been a long time since my teen-aged mom looked out her window and yearned to go home. Looking back I hope she knows that her selfless sacrifices on our behalf made all the difference in our lives.  This mother's day, like every other, I'm reminded that "M" is for the million things she gave me - and so much more.