Friday, May 7, 2010

Celebrating Mom

(The little girl in white, second to the left, is my mother when she was a child)

Growing up I didn't always have the best relationship with my mom. My dad would always say it was because I was exactly the same as her and our tell it like it is, stubborn attitudes would clash. At this I would generally scoff and call my mom a not so nice word that rhymes with witch.

Nowadays, I thank my lucky stars that my children are boys and I don't have to deal with the joys of having a teenage daughter.

Truthfully though, my Dad was right. My mom and I are exactly the same in a lot of aspects of our personalities and thankfully as I've gotten older and had children and a marriage of my own we've learned to get along and bond over our similarities rather then let them get the best of us. It's strange how once I become an adult my relationship with my mother changed. I don't know exactly when it happened, but she's more like a best friend to me now. Her job is done, for the most part, and as a result our relationship shifted and settled into something natural, with a certain camaraderie involved.

This Mother's Day is particularly special to me, not because I am a mother myself, but because a month ago I almost lost my mom to a very nasty heart attack. I'm choosing to celebrate her life on Sunday and be thankful that the Lord chose my life to intertwine with hers.

A family really is like a tree. We have seeds and points where we branch off from the others, but they are never too far behind and we are always connected and are part of something bigger and more influential then ourselves. We continue to grow.

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Feel like reliving some old school memories of your own? Then head on over to the fabulous blog of Christopher and Tia for a Friday Flashback of your own! Seriously, do it.

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8 comments:

Tia Colleen said...

A beautfiul post, Amanda.

I can relate to a lot of your personality clashing, my mother and I go through a lot of the same.

My relationship with my son, is so much different than my relationship with my daughter. While I love my daughter, more than I could ever tell her, I certainly do NOT look forward to her growing up and fighting with me, haha.

Chana@ Mamma Town said...

I love your writing. Very touching post, and I'm afraid my husband and I may be girl makers! I hope and pray for at least ONE son someday:)Haha! Happy Mother's Day to you!

Devon said...

i'm so sorry to hear about your mother's passing. you are so lucky to have gotten a chance to connect with her in such a special way! you'll cherish that forever!

Lacey said...

I'm pretty sure I could've signed your post as my own - sounds just like the relationship I have/had with my Mother.

Something just happened when I moved out. It was almost like the pressure was off and she began to trust me.

I'll be celebrating my mom this Sunday because I couldn't imagine my life without her.

Great post!

Malika said...

Very poignant post!

We should all celebrate the time we have with our mothers because we just never know when they will be gone.

Happy Mother's Day!

Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife said...

I have a very similar relationship with my mom. I do love the friendship, now.

Mothers and daughters is an interesting phenomenon...

Melanie @ Whimsical Creations said...

Beautifully put! My relationship with my mom was/is just like yours.

Alyssa S. said...

I love that picture of your mom. She looks like she has some mischief in her! I'm so glad you have another Mother's Day to celebrate with her. I know the heart attack was a scary thing to deal with.

My mom and I have an interesting relationship. I love her to death but my sister is way more like her than me. I'm way more like my dad and I think the things that used to drive the two of them nuts about each other carried over to her and I. She makes me want to pull my hair out, but at the end of the day, when I need to cry to someone, she's always the first person I call :)

Happy Mother's Day to you AND your Mommy!