Thanks, Mom

Thanks, Mom....for the hundreds of hours you spent driving me and sitting through my activities and sporting events. All of the things I truly love to do now.....playing sports, biking, reading.....are passions you helped develop in me as a young child.

Thanks, Mom...for making dinner every night and insisting we have a family prayer and eat together. I do believe that it is one reason we are still a close family. It is something I am trying hard to do with my own family, and it is tiring and stressful, but ultimately worth it, I know.

Thanks, Mom....for keeping me safe. You had such a good "bad guy sniffer" and knew exactly which situations had the potential to expose us to abuse. Yet, I never felt sheltered and always had the run of the neighborhood.

Thanks, Mom....for going back to school when we were little and getting your college degree. It taught me the importance of a college education in very concrete ways. I still remember how I loved to thumb through your textbooks and try to imagine what college was like, and how Dad would drive us all downtown every Thursday evening to pick you up from class.

Thanks, Mom...for not giving up on me as a teenager. I know I was awful.

Thanks, Mom.....for giving me permission to take some time off from college after a particularly traumatic semester (even though you probably knew I wouldn't do it). You always knew to be soft with me, because I was plenty hard on myself.

Thanks, Mom....for showing true strength after Dad passed away. You taught me that every tragedy holds a tremendous potential for growth and learning, and that you can find happiness in an unexpected path.

Thanks, Mom....for braving New York City to be there for the birth of my boys. It was extra special sharing it with you. (And thanks for passing along the short labor & delivery gene to me, too!)

Thanks, Mom....for all of your support with Noe's autism. I feel like you know what I'm going through better than just about anyone.

Thanks, Mom.....for everything you are, and everything you have done for me. I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!