I'm very blessed to come from a long line of great moms. I am fortunate enough to have a mother who knew (probably knows) me far better than I know myself, even if I'm most of the time too stubborn to admit it (which, not surprisingly, I think she also knows). She magically knew when to push me, when to support me, when to let me fall on my own and and how to catch me after I fall. She is loving and kind and a model of how I hope Matthew remembers me when he's old enough to blog about Mother's Day :-) Though Dad may have been the "adventurous" one in our vacation planning, Mom was always there to make sure we didn't fall off the cliff, made sure our meals were prepared (including one crazy meal she made while the VW was in motion) and that Dad would eventually stop and let us go to the bathroom. Trust me, in traveling with my father you need a good bathroom stop advocate.

However, what I may always remember most is my Mother's involvement in our day-to-day lives (especially those awkward teen years where the photos are still paper and I have no desire to digitize them for sharing). My mother was a band mom through our high school days and was well-liked by not only me (which is a feat during the hormone-ridden high school years) but by my friends. Mom was NEVER the permissive parent, nor did she try to hard to be "hip" among my peers but she was an upstanding parent who had high expectations for our behavior and held us to those expectations. She was always the adult in the situation and we always liked having her around. She was not only my mom, but she was a mom to many of my friends. She also has a killer "don't you dare" glare that I credit to her effectiveness . . . and need to learn pronto.

I am so thankful for my mother and enjoy how our relationship has evolved over time. It's amazing to watch her as a grandmother and think about how lucky I was to have her to raise me and how lucky I am to have her support in raising Matthew. Anyway, I could go on and on about my awesome mom, but I'm sure most of it she learned from her awesome mom. And I'm sure much of what my father learned, he picked up from his awesome mom. May I be smart enough to learn from all these great examples through my journey in motherhood. So, to my mother and all the mothers who have helped shaped my family, THANK YOU. Thank you for your guidance, love and for being some of the best role models a young woman can have.
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