For My Mama

This is a tribute to my mama.....yes, Mama. Not Mom or Mother, but Mama. (I guess that's a Southern thing!) I have been blessed with a wonderful mother, and even more blessed to have such a close relationship with her. She is truly one of my very best friends!

Mama is a true Southern belle.....always neat as a pin, hair perfectly fixed (at the beauty shop once a week), face always "made up". I don't know that I've ever seen her look "messy"! She's not dramatic, but when she needs to make a point, believe me, she can, and with a sweet smile on her face. And strong.....she has faced things in her life that I don't know that I could. My daddy died when I was 10, and I think that is a part of the reason that we are so close, maybe even more so than most mothers and daughters. I know a lot of women do it, but the thought of having to raise a child by myself is overwhelming. Of course, we had a lot of family support, but still, the responsibility was hers. We were blessed to have Granny (Mama's mother) live with us after Daddy died. Granny had stayed with us on an off after Granddaddy died, about two years before Daddy, but after Daddy died, she lived with us permanently. It was just the three of us "girls".

I can't begin to put into words how much I love my mama. She has always supported me in whatever I've done. From FHA and FBLA to pageants, she's been there, cheering me on. She's also traveled with me, as I went to state and national conferences, and to appearances as the state agriculture queen, and we had a blast!

She is a wonderful Grandmommy to Matthew and Luke. What a blessing to have her keep both of them since they were born! Mama used to teach school, at the same rural K-12 school that I teach at. The school year before Matthew was born, she had a really difficult year, with Granny having a stroke in the fall, then passing away in January, and then Mama's husband passed away in June. She just wasn't ready to go back to school at the end of July, so she took a year's leave of absence, and kept Matthew for me that year. After that, she just retired! She did get a few months' break when Matthew started to kindergarten, but in January of that school year when I went back to work after having Luke, she started keeping him. I am fortunate that the boys haven't had to go to daycare, and that they are with someone who loves them just as much as I do!

I could go on and on about Mama's wonderful qualities, but maybe the best way to sum it all up is that I hope that I can be half the mother to Matthew and Luke that she has been to me. Happy Mother's Day, Mama! I love you with all my heart!