THANKFUL FRIDAY

Today is my mother’s 80th birthday. She probably doesn’t appreciate me telling the world that she’s turning 80 today, but I find the idea of aging and living a great number of years to be wonderful. Have you y’all watched Soul yet? It truly is a work of art and shows the beauty of living. That movie and I share a life philosophy. Each year, your life fills up with something wondrous and by the time you’ve come to the last year of life, you can look back and say ‘Wow!’ Every year you survive is a year worth celebrating.

The year my mother was born, the US had not yet entered World War II. During the month she was born, Franklin D Roosevelt was sworn into his third term as President of the United States. Starting on January 13th, all persons born in Puerto Rico are considered US citizens by birth. On January 23rd, Charles Lindbergh tells Congress that the US should negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler. On January 27th, The US Ambassador to Japan tells Washington that there’s a rumor of a planned surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. A lot happens in that first year of my mother’s life. Captain America and Wonder Woman make their comic debuts. Joe DiMaggio starts his 56 game hitting streak in May against the Chicago White Sox. The Mammoth Caves become an official National Park and Roosevelt signs an order to make every fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day. Walt Disney would release Dumbo, it’s fourth animated feature. That rumored attack on Pearl Harbor would happen in December, near the end of the year, and catapult the US into World War II.

All of that was just one year. Just think about all of the stuff that has happened between then and now. All the amazing discoveries and art and music and culture. My mother has been alive for all of it and is still well and kicking enough to see and experience so much more. Her life is so full and yet there’s still room for more. This is what I want for myself. I want a life so full that by the time I get to the end, my body can no longer contain the fullness of my soul. Of course, we are not under ideal circumstances to celebrate my mother properly. We’re going to do the best we can without exposing her or others to COVID. Hopefully this time next year, we can have a big Happy 81st Birthday party or I can take Mom on a trip. Something non-virtual. It doesn’t matter to me how we celebrate Mom’s birthday this year. I am just grateful that we get to celebrate another year of her life. I know how fortunate I am to still have her with us.

Happy Birthday Mom!

THANKFUL FRIDAY

Mom #365

"Mom #365"

My brother told me that my mom took design classes when they were building the Collinsville house. At first I was totally surprised, but then I wasn't at all surprised. She was always taking down wallpaper and putting up new wallpaper. She constantly rearranged the furniture. She always had baskets of floral arrangements put here and there. Don't even get me started on her throw pillows. Mom has always been creative and our home always reflected this. It's not just the creativity thing though. Mom wanted to know more about house design so she took a class. This is typical mom. She wanted know how to do pottery. She took a class. Her job before I was born was to fix jewelry. I'm sure she took a class to learn how to do that. Mom wanted to do this or that, she took the time to learn about it and then did it. Whatever it was. She's still doing that. Right now she's in the middle of completely remodeling her kitchen. 

This independence, this do-it-yourself mentality is a trait that I inherited from Mom. Some people may call us stubborn. That's probably true. There for sure is some stubbornness to our tenacity to accomplish a task. Mom burned her wrist while setting fire to a bunch a garbage in the old swimming pool one time. She probably shouldn't have been out there trying to do that by herself, but she was like "fuck it! I'm getting rid of this garbage!" Except she would not have used those exact words. Ever. The other day I bruised my knee when I tried to rest the whole dang chicken coop on it so I could change out their water. I probably should have waited for help, but I was like "I CAN DO IT ALL!" Stubborn and independent. Those two words sum up my mother and I pretty well. Despite the trouble my stubborn independence has gotten me into at times, I am grateful that this is something I inherited from Mom. And I when I say "gotten me into trouble", I will say that it's never been any kind of trouble I haven't been able to get out of. Mostly.

I tell you this today because it is my fiercely independent Mother's birthday! Mom, thank you for teaching me the value of self reliance. Actually, I want to thank you for teaching me so much more than this and I'm thankful that you're around to keep on teaching me stuff and being there when I drop my stubbornness and need you. My birthday wish for you this year is that kitchen fairies come in and speed up the remodel in some magical wonderful way. I am also thankful for the time we'll have together this weekend. We're having a girlie girl weekend. What else? Michael has had some sort of head cold like thing all week. The guys at work have it too. I am thankful that I have been able to avoid it. I am thankful that I can bend over, put my shoes on and get back up. I am thankful for slightly warmer temperatures. 

I am always thankful for you. Here's to a weekend of cucumber slices on the eyes and a super Thankful Friday!

THANKFUL FRIDAY

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday. Mom was born January 15, 1941. You do the math. Almost a year later, Japan would attack Pearl Harbor and Pepaw (Mom's Dad) would enlist in the Navy. My mom was a baby during the second world war. She was a teenager in the 1950s, bee-bopping to the tunes of Elvis and first hand witness to school desegregation. When the sixties rolled around, she would become a wife and mother. She's seen a lot. She's done a lot. And she's still doing and seeing a lot.

If I had to describe my mom in one word, it would be resourceful. She can turn a simple bean into a magical beanstalk. When mom wasn't working a full time job, she was crafting up a storm and selling her crafts in craft fairs all around Oklahoma. She could make an exact replica of any costume even if it had been sketched by a five year old. I had doll dresses for my dolls that matched my dresses. She turned an old kettle drum into a planter in the front yard. She invented hose gloves (special gloves you wore while putting on your panty hose so you wouldn't accidentally poke a finger nail through them). And probably every woman at our old church had a Christmas pin pinned to their coat that was made by Mom. All she needed to make one was a bit of white felt, a twig of holy and her glue gun. She is the MacGyver of crafts. In fact, when I called her yesterday morning, she was in the middle of hanging a cabinet door back onto her kitchen cabinets. She'd taken it off the day before to paint it. I am thankful for Mom's resourcefulness. I have benefited from many a magical beanstalks.  I am grateful for her lessons in creativity. She was my first art teacher. I am also thankful and fortunate that Mom is still reasonably healthy so she can keep on keeping on.

I have walked miles and miles this week and I'm thankful for each one. I am thankful for the sunlight that spilled onto my yoga mat while I was practicing yoga. I am thankful that the tofu taco recipe I made up in my head turned out to be a winner especially with a member of the household who is a big tofu hater. I am thankful for the puppy play pen Bec gave us just because she thought we could use it. It's fifty degrees outside right this minute and I am so thankful for that. I might just go put on shorts (not really). I am thankful for that day this week where the Jens and I spent an afternoon sending silly facebook "stickers" back and forth in chat. Seriously ya'll, I am (as always) super duper thankful for all of you. 

Here's to a blessed weekend and a wonderful Thankful Friday!