Counting Blessings: Seventy-nine years

Today's Blessing:  My Mom

My mom celebrated her 79th birthday today.  Wow!  Next year is a landmark birthday for her!  To me she should only be 50 but that could never be since I'm older than that!  You just kind-of lose track of years when you get past a certain age.

My mom has always been a trooper.  She was the one who taught me the value of work...getting us kids up early in the morning to weed the garden and instilling us with the responsibility of doing chores and helping around the house.  I still remember pulling weeds with her in the garden and she would tell me how she weeded onions when she was younger and she'd sing "I'm a pretty little petunia in an onion patch" while she worked.  She and my dad made a deal when they got married that she would nurture and care for the kids and he would provide for the family...they pretty much kept that deal.  She cared for us seven kids and I think we all turned out pretty good.  She was an excellent example to me as she served in various callings in the church and I remember her going visiting teaching often.  I never wanted to disappoint my mom - I wanted her to be proud of me.

After work I put together a little "goodie" bag for her and then drove to Farr West for a birthday visit.  The visit turned out really nice, and my youngest brother Rick and his wife Jolene were there so we got to have a bit of family catch-up time too. :)

It's too bad we get so involved in the busyness of life that we hardly get together just to visit.  Thank goodness for birthdays, holidays, weddings, and other special days...they bring the family together!