Happy Mother's Day! To all our mothers.

Me and Mom! 1952 in Milwaukee, WI

Repost from last year, Unfortunately, my brother-in-law Reid passed away recently. I will miss all the good stuff he used to send.
I put more time into Saturday posts for the simple reason that I have more time to prepare them.  I had something planned, but my brother-in-law, Reid, sends along some great stuff. So this being Mother's Day, I get another great article and it is too good not to forward! Thanks Reid!  To all our great mothers, especially my own, enjoy your day! Miss you mom! Love, Dan

This is an article that was printed in USA Today a couple of days ago.  It was written by Ann Romney and aside from your political preferences, it is a wonderful article.  Happy mothers day to all.  Reid

'It's hard to imagine now, but before the birth of my first child, I had never held a baby.  Not once, not in my entire life.  No baby to tend, no niece or nephew to babysit, so you can imagine, the day my first boy was born, I felt woefully unprepared.

My mother took pity on me and stayed for two weeks, but that wasn't nearly enough time.  As she was preparing to leave, I cried like I was the baby.  I told her that I wasn't ready, that I had no idea what to do.  In her smile I saw the truth.  Ready or not, my son couldn't wait, and somehow, I would make it through.

Of course, she was right. Some might say it was the mothering gene kicking in, the same one that every mom throughout  history has possessed.  Maybe, I don't think so.  I was a good mom because my own mom was the best.

I suppose my mother was somewhat unusual for her time.  At 30 she was --and expected she would always be--a career woman.  She worked as a cosmetics  rep and was happy in that  job.  She never expected to get married, but then she found one man in all the world who could change her mind--my dad.

The same passion she had for her work she poured in being a mother.  I never lacked for confidence or a sense of self worth.  How could I when my mom seemed to think I had hung the moon?  People would tell her, as people are won't to do with little girls,  that she had a beautiful daughter.  "If only you knew"  she would say, "how much more beautiful she is in the inside."

RINGLEADER AND TROUBLEMAKER

Such words gave me my place in the world.  She let me be who I was, which meant playing baseball and football with the boys, and catching snakes out behind the house.  I think the thing she loved the most was that I was always the ringleader, always more likely to get others in trouble than to  follow along.

Growing up as her daughter is what prepared me to be a mother myself.  So began a different phase in my life.  People often asks me what it was like to raise five boys.  I won't sugarcoat it.  There were times I wanted to  tear my hair out.  I can remember visiting my friends' houses, seeing their daughters manners, the way they helped with the chores.  Then I would return home to my boys, hoping that  my house was still intact.

Still, those were wonderful times.  My boys had a way of putting their emotions and their disputes on the table.  And more important, they had a way of leaving them there, of walking away without worrying about the things  that might  distance them, or letting hard feelings fester and grow.   That  directness and forgiveness shaped me into who I am today.

I'm a grandmother now.  In fact,  the gift I received on Mother's Day is two more wonderful grandchildren, twins, bringing the total to 18.

As every grandparent knows, it's a different role than being a mother or daughter.  I am able to adore the grandchildren, and to smile as my children  go through the same struggles I went through when they  were young.  I've lived through three seasons of motherhood, and I have see the beauty in each.

A TRADITION OF LILACS.

On Mother's Day, Mitt always brings me lilacs, a tradition he started the year I became  a mother.  When our home is filled with their  fragrance, it reminds me of so many things, and stirs so many emotions.  I think  of my five sons and the women they married, whom  I love as if I had raised them.  They have become my daughters.

And I think about my mother.  I remember she was a wonderful cook.  I remember how much she loved my dad.  Ours was a loving home, where I knew the light was always on.  I wish I could tell her again how much I love her.  The most trying time of my life was when I became the mother who had to take care of her as she was suffering in the last stages of ovarian cancer.  The hardest  thing for us all, I think,  is the day we lose our moms.

CROWN OF GLORY

Cherish your mothers.  The ones who wiped your tears, who were at every ball game or ballet recital.  the ones who believed  in you, even when nobody else did, even  when you don't believe in yourself.

Women wear many hats in their lives.  Daughter, sister, student, breadwinner.  But no matter where we are or what we're doing, one hat  that moms  never take off is the crown of motherhood.

There is no crown more glorious."