Happy Mother’s Day!

I’ve previously told you about how my Mom’s pretty awesome because she can bake bread from scratch, milk a goat and turn the output into cheese and ice cream and make a seriously tasty omelet too. But what you don’t know about Mom is that she’s also the nicest, most compassionate, thoughtful and caring person you will ever meet. This means that she puts others before herself and goes out of her way to help those in need. If everyone were to be as lucky as I am and have a Mom like mine, the world would certainly be a different and much happier place.

When I was little my Mom would tuck me in and sing me to sleep at night, hug me every morning and remind me daily that I’m loved. She gave me books like Charlotte’s Web and The Secret Garden to read and encourage my imagination to grow and develop. From as early as I can remember I’ve always loved sports and that’s probably because Mom would take me skating and skiing in the winter and go biking and swimming with me in the summer, (and she still does). Mom doesn’t speak ill of other people and as such has taught me the value of respect and acceptance of others. At times in my life when I have had to make the decision of whether or not to do something questionable, my decisions have always hinged on the fact that I wouldn’t want to do something that would disappoint my Mom or make her less proud of me. She’s my number one cheerleader in all that I do and is sure of me when I’m not sure of myself.

I assure you, if you’ve ever had the privilege of crossing paths with my Mom, you’re a better person for it. Unfortunately, I think people that are as nice as she is, (if other such people even exist) are often underappreciated. In her role as an elementary school principle, Mom goes to work early and comes home late everyday, she genuinely cares about the wellbeing of her students and staff and yet still has to put up with far more nonsense and politics than anyone should have to. Despite all of that, Mom has a positive outlook on life and believes in the good of people. But if I had things my way, Mom would have retired long ago so that she could spend her days gardening, going for hikes and bike rides, reading and writing a book.

If I had things my way I would also be home for Mother’s Day so that I could spend the day with my Mom. I would start by making her some fabulous cornmeal waffles for brunch, (a Dorie Greenspan recipe from this book) and top them with maple blueberry sauce and fresh orange segments. Then we would relax and read the paper on the deck in the sunshine and talk about where in the Travel section we wanted to go most. When we finished reading the paper we would drive to the beach to go for a walk along the water and get an ice cream cone with two scoops each. After we got home Dad and I would start making dinner and Mom would work in the garden until it was time to eat. Depending on our mood following dinner we would play cards or watch a movie. It would be a wonderful day with my Mom. Unfortunately, she will have to take a raincheck on that one because I can’t make it home this weekend, but I still love her very very much and hope she has an amazing day because she really deserves it.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!