Mom

A house is built of logs and stone, Of tiles and posts and piers,

A home is built of loving deeds That stand a thousand years.

                                      –Victor Hugo

Her name was Susie Latty Day but to her six children, she was simply Mom. On this Mother’s Day, my thoughts turn to Mom but then I think of her all the other 364 days too. The verse by Victor Hugo certainly describes what my mother made of each of the houses I lived in as a child. The furnishings didn’t matter that much to me. If Mom was there, it was home. It’s funny how children take the most important things for granted. Love, security, warmth, acceptance, these are things can’t be earned or bought but they were all mine when I was home with Mom and Dad.

I have a lifetime of memories of my mother because I was blessed that she stayed on this earth for 90 years and during most of those years, I lived not far away. I would pick up the phone and call her several times a day;  when I was trying a new recipe,  when my son fell out of his walker and bumped his head, when I saw cedar waxwings for the first time light in my back yard; phone calls that to anyone else but Mom would be an interruption.

As a child, I had asthma pretty severely. Many nights I had to sit up in a chair in order to breathe. Mom would melt Vicks in a tablespoon and hold it so I could inhale the fumes. When I played at my first piano recital, she was there cheering me on. When I missed winning the county spelling bee because I thought the word “stomach” ended with a “k”, she assured me it was an understandable mistake.

Mom was not very big but she could accomplish more in one day than I could in two. She was always busy and I heard her say she was tired only a few times in my life. Mom said that work is a blessing.  Her house was spotless. Her children still talk about those melt-in-your-mouth pie crusts that nobody but Mom could bake. Many times as I’m cooking and using some of her pots and pans, I feel the warmth of her closeness.  She had a green thumb and loved working among her flowers. One of my favorite memories is of her in her wide, red straw hat checking the progress of  the plants in the yard.

Because my husband, son and I lived close to Mom and Dad, they were like second parents to Matt. He spent a lot of hours with them as he grew up. She loved him and she loved all her grandchildren. She prayed for each one and took a keen interest in their lives.

Mom never criticized. Even when I really goofed or made mistakes, she did not say harsh words. She seemed to feel what I felt.  She was not a critic but was my defender and champion.

She left me with a pretty high example. Without giving me a book of rules or actually even mentioning it, she showed me the importance of motherhood.  She did it by quietly living it day by day. And now I am triply blessed: I am the daughter of a wonderful mom, the mother of a terrific son, and the grandmother of beautiful grandchildren. And as an added bonus, I am mother-in-law to Dawn who is an awesome mother herself.

Love, they say, lasts forever. I believe that’s true. So thanks Mom for many things: for being my compass in life, the rock I could depend on, but most of all, for loving me.