Mothers I have Loved.....

I've been thinking about Mother's Day this week. Thinking about how much I miss my mother...(who has been gone for 31 years now.) Thinking about myself as a mother, my daughter as a mother, and other mothers who have touch my life...

So Happy Mother's Day to those gone on ahead and those still here:

To my mother: Thanks for the memories.......the Sunday dinners, the family gatherings, the bedtime stories, the Christmas mornings, the movies we saw together, the endless miles of driving, the nurturing, the spoiling, the example, the love. I miss you, Mom.

To my Grandma Patch: Thank you for listening to the missionaries, and bringing the Gospel into our lives, for raising my Father to be such a hard-working, righteous, kind and loving man, for spending so many Christmases with us in Minnesota, for the life stories and the poems you left us, for the lessons of hard-work and perseverance, of getting up when life knocks you down and moving forward in faith. I miss you, Grandma.

To my Grandma Strom: Thank you for being there during my growing up years. For your toughness and resilience. For your courage to come to a strange new land and leave behind everything you'd ever known to start anew. For your no-nonsense approach to life and your example of working hard and playing hard. For your love. I miss you, Grandma.

To my daughter, Eleanor: Thank you for making me a grandmother. For bringing those two sweet boys into our family. Thank you for raising them to be responsible and brilliant and loving. I love you, Eleanor.

To my mother-in-law, Mitzi: Thanks for raising a wonderful son. For being a wonderful grandmother to my children. Thank you for your love and energy and willingness to help. Thanks for your example to my children of service to the Lord. We miss you, Mitzi.

To Lois: Lois is not my mother, but the mother of my best friend growing up. Lois was and remains my 'other mother'. Considering the amount of time I spent at their home growing up, she had a great hand in raising me and instilling certain values in my life. Thanks, Lois, for putting up with me, for loving me in spite of my short-comings. For your sharing, and caring, your endless patience and understanding, your unconditional love. I love you, and wish we lived closer so we could visit more often. I hope you have a great Mother's Day!

This list could go on and on, as there as endless women who have influenced my life by their actions and examples. So, to all the women in my life:

Happy Mother's Day!!