communication breakdown

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love My Mom

It's Mothers Day, so I figured this was the perfect occasion to write about a different topic - my mother.

I don't often write about my family, nor do I get to see them often, but my mother is very important to me. Here are a couple of reasons why she is so special:

10. She created a positive and nurturing home for me and my sister. Nowadays, it seems like a rare occurrence to find parents who are willing to take the time and invest it in their children at a young age to ensure that they get the early education they need. But my mother was there for me, and my sister, to help us when we were at our most helpless. She read to me often at a young age, and thus I was able to read before I ever started school. It's a simple thing to do, but so many people take it for granted. And it's not like she's a college professor or anything, either; her own education ended with high-school. But she was wise enough to know that helping her children to learn at a very young age would reap rewards later. And she was right. While I'm sure that some of my academic success has been due to natural ability, I'm a firm believer that natural talents must be combined with a healthy environment to produce optimal results. She did her very best and I'm thankful for that.

9. She brought me into church at a young age. Obviously this was one of the most important things my mother has ever done for me, because it put me on the road towards salvation and Christianity and a personal relationship with Christ. What amazes me is that she wasn't even a Christian when she started sending me to church (in fact she had had a pretty sketchy background, to be honest), but she knew she wanted her children to be in church and be raised right. That kind of wisdom blows me away. Life is so crazy, you never know how things would have turned out if any one thing in your life was done differently. It's entirely possible that, if she hadn't brought me to church when she did, I might have never gone. I can only imagine with fear how that might have turned out.

8. She suffered through a failed marriage for her children's sake. I could go on and on about this, but I won't. From a personal standpoint, this is the one that amazes me the most, probably because I feel it was the most difficult to accomplish. Suffice it to say that my mother and father had an ill-fated relationship, and the marriage should have ended long before it did. Yet she stayed in the home, and put up with all of my father's issues, just to prevent me and my sister from having the stress and hassle of a divorce. She finally reached her limit and left, but not until my sister was near high-school graduation and able to handle the situation. Talk about being selfless - I could not imagine making such a personal sacrifice.

7. She was always fair and reasonable in her parenting. I've heard so many horror stories about how unbearable some parents can be, but with the exception of a few times where we just didn't see eye-to-eye (and even those times were probably my fault), my mother was a very just parent. Punishments were always fair and justified, and nothing was banned without reason. She honored my good behavior with a large amount of trust as I got older, which made me want to avoid anything that might betray that trust. As a result, I'd say I made it through adolescence without any major issues or behavioral incidents.

6. She always encourages me and has faith in me. This has always happened, and continues to this day. Whether it is school, sporting events, work, or anything else I'm involved with, I know that she is fully confident in my abilities to succeed and always supports my decisions. This has always had a positive effect on my self-esteem and has helped me achieve a lot of the things that I never would have thought possible.

5. She never pressures me and lets me accomplish things in my own time. I didn't really think about this one until recently, but it's very important to me. A lot of parents try to force things on their children, either because they are sure it's the right thing to do, or because they want to live vicariously through their kids. My mom has never done this. She didn't want me to leave state for school, but when I made it clear what I wanted to do, she supported it fully. When I graduated and decided to move to Minnesota, meaning that I would see her even less, rather than attempt to dissuade me, she really encouraged me to take the job because it was the best opportunity at the time. She has never put any pressure on me to get married or give her grandchildren - I guess she's trusting that it will all happen in good time. And it will. It's a lot easier for things to happen when you're not being pulled in another direction by someone else. Thankfully she's never done this to me.

4. She has always been youthful and fun. Surprisingly, this has become more and more evident as she gets older. Some moms of people my age spend their nights in a bingo parlor and then use their walker to get back to the nursing home van. Not my mom. She is a free-wheeling spirit with an insatiable craving for life. She goes out on dates all the time. Every time I talk to her she tells me about how many guys are after her (not something a son really wants to hear about his mom, but I digress...) She's very hip for a mother-of-two; in fact, at this point in my life she feels more like a close friend than a mother, which is very cool.

3. She has a great sense of humor. This is obviously related to her youthful spirit. She laughs all the time, and I always enjoy going home and joking around with her. Plus she always laughs at my jokes, which I'm sure is tough, since nobody else does.

2. She is always around whenever I need her most. I've always tried to be a very independent person, but every once in awhile, I need someone to be there for me, for advice, or a favor, or just to listen to me talk for awhile. Mom never fails - she is always there when I need any of these things. Plus she always seems to have an answer when I need one, which is a definite plus.

But most of all...

1. I wouldn't be the person I am today without her. And I mean that in every possible way. Every single good thing about myself I can trace back to her influence, wisdom, and care. I guess that makes me a momma's boy. So be it.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you...