Happy Birthday Mom!

/ Sheila

Well, I’m breaking one of my blogging rules. I like to spend some time catching up, reading favorite blogs, answering comments, posting a few of my own, before I launch a new post. But with a week of little ones and work to fill my time, blogging has been on the back burner. I’m still recovering from having an 18 month old running around my house, and a four-year old that has a million questions and opinions. It was a joy, every minute of it, but not conducive to writing.

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday, and I’ve done the standard things. I wished her happy birthday by phone, and with a Facebook post, and sent a gift, and we’re planning a girls’ night out in August when we’ll have a little visit in Seattle. But I wanted to do it one more way, marking the moment here, putting it in writing because I’m not there to say it in person.

It’s not a momentous birthday, 74, although really they all are, whether it’s a decade milestone or just a somewhere-in-the-middle number. We are 20 years apart, she and I, my big day lagging a few months behind hers.

Marking the moment

Marking the moment

This photo was made a few birthdays ago when she was up for a visit. She’s a traveler, that being part of her life’s work as a Christian missionary, along with my dad, to many locations, most in Asia. So a little trip to Ketchikan is just opportunity to see another part of the world. And when she’s visited, we’ve seen bears, and eagles, and done a little cooking and a little sampling of the local fare. She’s sat in my living room and seen the float planes and the cruise ships that dock just beneath my windows.

But mostly, visits are about connecting, whether in Alaska or her home in Mississippi.

My mom is one of a kind, an amazing woman in so many ways. This was my tribute to her a couple of years ago, and it sums up perfectly the mom I know, who has been dear to so many, and made a difference with her life.

Happy Birthday to my mom, the one and only Betty.

~ Sheila

18 thoughts on “Happy Birthday Mom!”

    • Thank you Marilyn! I saw a fun quote recently…something along the line of “whatever number you’re turning is the new 30!” I like that attitude! ~ Sheila

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    • Thanks MJ! I know you understand what it’s like to live far from mom…I miss mine, worry a bit about her (although she is quite independent and capable!) and feel an invisible connection that the miles can’t break! I suspect you feel just the same about yours. Those moms! What would we do without them?! ~ Sheila

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      • it’s hard to be far away, wish I’d considered it when I was young & stupid 🙂

        but … like you said … we are very close and share a special connection unlike any other – Hugs!

        MJ

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    • Thank you Debbie! Yes, the miles disappear with the memories, and the ability to be connected by phone, and photos, and Facebook! I love technology and the good things it brings to life, especially in the realm of staying connected. Have a happy day! ~ Sheila

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  6. Thank you for such sweet words, Sheila. I would try to write something worthy in response but i realized long ago that you are a much better writer than I am. In thinking about “me”, though, I am realizing that all of us are an interweaving of all the important people in our lives. Without the constant influences and molding of Papa and Mama, J.C., and each of you children, I would be a far different person today. So, thank you!

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    • Thank you Mother! We all benefit from relationships with wonderful people! I feel blessed to have strong roots and amazing role models across the generations and in all branches of the family…something I appreciate more as I watch the younger generations, and realize how much the young depend on the older ones, and learn from them. Thank you for being a rock of strength in my life! ~ Sheila

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