Happy Mother's Day

How many women in your life do you need to thank on this special day? How many have shown their selflessness, have given up part of themselves to be a mother to you?

At the risk of boring my readers, I wanted to list a few of the special moms in my life. Of course I have to start with the one that brought me here, my own mom. As far back as I remember, she was a working mom. Oh, I remember when she first got the job as the substitute teacher and can't recall what she did before that. Or the job at the temp agency. But in my mind she was always a working mom. Cook, cleaning, all the rest too. Even found a way to slip me a little cash on weekends when I was in college, when I know she didn't have the cash for herself. Somehow thanks doesn't seem to cut it as a response.

The second mother I need to thank is the mother of my children. Some of you know that my first wife passed away 10 years ago. She gave 15 years of her life to raising our 3. Boy if she could see them now.

God is good and in everything He finds ways to show His glory. A little over eight years ago, I met a woman who was a mother herself. Her kids were out of the house, she had "finished" the job of raising her kids (do you ever finish?). She gladly stepped in to help complete the job with mine. She's given up a lot of her dreams over the last eight years to make sure that they have a chance at theirs. Trying not to overshadow their own mother, but also trying to help them in the way that she knows will result in mature adults (after all, she was already batting 1000).

And then there's our girls and girls-in-laws. All four are mothers or will be in about a month. For one of them, this is their first mother's day with a little one. For two, they have the sweet knowledge that in a few days or weeks, they will hold the little one in their arms. They all have no idea what the next 18 years will bring, but I know that they will devote everything to the little ones.

I could go on and talk about my sister and her giving up her career for the second time to devote to her daughter, or my sisters-in-laws and how they drop everything to take care of theirs. You get the picture.

To all of these mothers, and all of you mothers out their, thank you for what you do, have done and will do. Thank you for giving of your life to take care of us. Thank you for giving up the things you want for being mothers. Happy Mother's Day. Somehow, one day just isn't enough.