Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is Mom's birthday. She would have been 62 years old today. I do have to say that so far the day has been difficult, but not as difficult as I had feared. Mom has been in my thoughts constantly and it is making me smile to think of her. I loved how she would make her birthday lists for us so we could get her something she wanted or needed. Remember how she used to always ask for a short sleeved sweater? Up until recently you could NEVER find them anywhere! Now, of course they're everwhere. And any pants you got her, had to be petite, since she was so short. And even then, 1/2 the time she would have to hem them anyway. I remember one year, I think it was for Mother's Day(?), all she wanted was for us to have flowers delivered to her work.

I always enjoyed shopping for mom. It was such a joy for me to try and find as much as I could to give to her for birthdays, christmas or mother's day. I always wanted to give her as much as I could because she did so much for us!

I remember he telling me a story one time about when she was born. She said that her dad, Grandpa John was so worried that she was going to be born during the World Series, and he didn't want that, because he didn't want to miss anything!

Birthdays....she always made them so special for us, even when most of the time there wasn't much to give. Growing up we always went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for our birthday dinner, where we got whatever we wanted for our dinner and we had homemade cake. I've always loved the homemade cake and frosting.

This morning while I was exercising, I put on music that Mom liked, like the BeeGees, Billy Joel and The Guess Who.

Tonight we are having mom's tacos, frying the tortillas in oil. I could never get enough of those when she made them! In fact, I asked her to make those for my birthday dinner last year, and to cut up the cheese into little cubes, because that's how we used to have our cheese. She was so surprised that I would ask for that, but I think it was a very pleasant surprise for her as she had a smile when I asked for that. I know she had it hard when we were growing up and sometimes all we would have would be soup and corn muffins for dinner, because that's all she could afford, but we LOVED those meals! That and peaches and cottage cheese. I think that when we talked about that with her, telling her that we used to love those meals, that it made her happy to hear that. She did the best she could with what she had and it made us happy and I know that's all she wanted for us.

After dinner we are planting a Gardenia plant in memory of her for her birthday. In a way, it's sort of a birthday present for her. It has been really hard not going out and buying her something for her birthday. I always looked forward to doing that. She taught us well..........

Mom, I love you so much and I miss you so much!!!! I know you are watching over us and making sure we are okay. We're doing the best we can on our own. It's been very hard, but we are getting through it together, and you are the reason we are able to do that. You raised us to be strong, because we had you as a role model.

I love you mom.....Happy Birthday......