Memories of my Mom for her 60th Birthday

Oh I have a million memories of mom.  I could talk about the million times she stabbed me in the head with the 4 prongs on a fork, or the many times she locked the doors on a summer day to make sure us boys played outside rather than lay around inside all day and as we went to the door to use the restroom she just said “use the wing wall”.  I could talk about the time we were given a choice to copy a page out of the dictionary or get 3 swats when we all three were in trouble or the time I wrote a dirty poem at school and was forced to apologize face to face with the teacher that found it.  I could talk about the times we were scared of a thunderstorm and we would go pray and stare at the picture of Jesus in our home.  Or the many hymns we heard played as mom waited patiently/irritated for dad to come home for dinner late.  I could talk about the 2 weeks that mom stood by my side when I was in the hospital after my appendix burst or all the 100 swim meets she sat in the hot sun to wait for my 2 or 3 races of fame each summer day.  I could talk about the times that mom would sit me down on the loveseat and ask question after question to find out where I was in my life and what was going on in my head or the time I lied to my Home Ec. Teacher about not having enough money to buy materials for sewing class and how mom made me tell the teacher the truth (I must not have learned that one the first time).  And lastly, I could talk about the time I came home from being with friends and when I laid on the floor to watch a movie with my parents a SKOAL can rolled in an 18 foot circle across the floor and I snuck upstairs (with dad) hoping mom would not call us back down.  But all of those things are not what we are supposed to be talking about here. 

What I should be saying is all the things I have learned from my mommy in the last 35 years.  Like how to have manners at the dinner table (the reason for the prongs in the head), or how to stay active all day and to be productive and think outside the box (the reason for the wing wall).  I have learned how to take my lumps and move on (the reason for the swats) or how to face my problems and talk them out no matter how much it hurts (from the dirty poem apology).  I have learned that when I am scared of life, or love, or thunderstorms to look to Jesus for the answers and to wait patiently for the Lord for he will hear my cries (like she did waiting for my dad).  I learned that when people need you to be present (like she did after my appendectomy) and share in victories and losses as she did at my swim meets.  I learned to talk about my feelings even when it is tough and to push back when my head tells me to close down (thankfully I have a wife that demands to know where my head is too).  I have learned to tell the truth no matter how bad the consequence (like I said it took many tries).  And lastly I learned don’t carry your SKOAL can in your sweatshirt front pocket because it might roll out in front of your parents.  No seriously, I learned that even when the truth is out on the floor it is better to face it than to run away.  Thanks again mom for all the lessons made from the memories we have had together.  I love you.

Mark