31 Things I Loved about Mom

I won't know until the end of this blog what number to put in the title....because there are just so many good memories of Mom...

Since it's Mother's Day weekend, and I am "home" in Atlanta spending time with my sweet Daddy, I have to be intentional about "taking my thoughts captive" & then Philippians 4:8-ing since it would be so natural to go down the sadness path....because I miss Mom so much. Instead, I want to remember the good things.

Here goes...

1) I loved how she laid out a new outfit on my bed that she bought me while I was at school..this was early on when she knew what I liked & there was no conflict in fashion tastes!

2) I loved that she planned a surprise baby shower for me in Atlanta when I was pregnant with Haley....no one expects a baby shower on their third baby!

3) I loved that she "taught" me to love coffee and loved to talk over a cup...somehow, it just seemed to make the conversation better.

4) I loved how she cooked, even on busy Sundays...there's just no aroma quite like a rump roast in the oven when you open the back door after getting home from church.

5) I loved how she took over my kitchen when she came to visit me in Charlotte, and how she always came with her famous strawberry cake & pasta salad in tow.

6) I loved how she grew to love our dogs...Kelly, Maggie, Lizzie & Ava, not because she was a dog lover because she wasn't, but because she knew her daughter was!

7) I loved how she knew when to stop and rest, even when there was still lots left to do.

8) I loved that she worked in the yard and knew how to mow the grass and even enjoyed it...this woman was not afraid of hard work!

9) I loved how she was always willing to lend a hand on WHATEVER project I had lined up for the weekend when they were visiting. She did it all!

10) I loved how we used to go shopping when my airline pilot Daddy was flying on a trip, even in the middle of the week and on a school night for me.

11) I loved how she always got up with me for school and had Morton "little donuts" and some o.j. waiting on me for breakfast.

12) I loved how she cooked everyone's favorite food on Thanksgiving & Christmas, no matter how big the family kept growing.

13) I loved how she called me her "sunshine".

14) I loved how she laughed, and that she could NEVER remember the punchline to a joke!

15) I loved that she worked the newspaper crossword puzzle everyday for as long as I can remember.

16) I loved that she enjoyed being around all kinds of people and demonstrated that in alot of ways. One of those ways- she was in 3 "bridge clubs": the neighborhood women, the Eastern women & the church couples.

17) I loved how much fun we had planning my wedding. I don't remember one single disagreement between us....we may have had one or two, but I don't remember that we did.

18) I loved that she always came to Charlotte when I had a baby and stayed the week after.

19) I loved that she taught me to love God's Word.

20) I loved that she was a stay-at-home Mom.

21) I loved that she taught young marrieds long after she was one!

22) I loved that she mentored women.

23) I loved that she surprised us all when she bought a snazzy red T-bird when she was in her 60's.

24) I loved how she said, "Thank you Jesus for the parking place" before she found it, and that she truly had a grateful heart, even for the "small" things.

25) I loved how she loved my Daddy.

26) I loved growing up, going to Grayton Beach, Florida with her and all her girlfriends every summer...I can still hear all of them "cackling" as they played bridge well after midnight.

27) I loved that she loved the beach and would get in the ocean, even though she didn't know how to swim.

28) I loved how she made me finish whatever I started...even when I wanted to quit drill team tryouts in the 10th grade, she said absolutely not for which I am so grateful....because being on drill team was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my entire 5 highschool years at Riverwood.

29) I loved that she didn't care what people thought & that she wasn't afraid to walk down the church aisle in her 30s AFTER she was a Sunday school teacher & the wife of a deacon, and say, "I need to be saved."

30) I loved how she loved me.

31) I loved that she was a great Mom, even though her Mom died when she was a baby. I loved her response when I asked her one day how she became such a good Mama...she just shrugged her shoulders & gave credit where credit was due, "The Lord taught me."

I love & miss you Mom! Happy Mother's Day in Heaven!