Wesley, Gloria and Michelle.
It is hard to find pictures like this :(.
This picture was taken in the summer of 2000 at Mom and Dad's place in St. Albert. I am 6 months pregnant with Ethan here and you can see Aleana and Josiah playing on the chair in the corner.
All the pictures of Mom from Ryan and Michelle's wedding are great. She just looked really healthy, beautiful, happy and well that September, 2001.
Mom passed away in May, on the 27th, early that Monday morning. Today marked the 10 year anniversary of her passing into glory. In our home, we called it our MOM - orial. Aleana came up with that one and she even included her own picture and memorial on her blog here: http://ajsupermonkey.blogspot.ca/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=47
My mother was not perfect but she was a great Mom and taught me many things about how to be. I would like to share the top ten things that my Mother taught me about life that I hold dear.
- Try to think the best of others. If they were mean to you maybe it's because they were having a bad day. This is some thing that is not always easy to do when you are having your own problems but it's a great lesson in understanding where other people are coming from.
- If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. Funny how you start to repeat to your children the same things that your own mother always used to say.
- If you really love someone you will follow them anywhere. Mom lived in 7 different homes - 5 different places from the time she married Dad till the time she died. She told me that she would follow him anywhere. Wow. That's a good example of love and loyality.
- Even when you are really tired and in lots of pain you can still sweep the kitchen floor before you go to bed. I think of her when I do this at 10pm because someone forgot again. How many times did I "forget" when I was growing up?
- Crafting and making things is fun!! Mom was always making something new. She went through phases of making different things. Barbie clothes, Cabbage Patch doll diapers, Christmas decorations of all sorts, fireplace starters, stamping, wheatie bags, wreaths - you name it (if it's from the 80s or 90s) - she did it.
- Giving gifts is to be valued. Mom loved to shop and as a kid this drove me nuts. BORING!! When Will and I were married - Mom passed on all sorts of things for our new home, things she made, things she bought and things from her house. When Aleana and Ethan were born she had a hayday shopping for them. I didn't mind because it helped our budget and saved me time. We were very thankful for all she did. With five growing children I've had to learn how to shop well. I am starting to enjoy it more as I realize that it cares for the family, saves us money when I'm thrifty, and shows a mother's love in providing for needs as only a Mom can.
- God is Just. This is a tough one to explain so let me put it this way... When a parent can tell you this in a way that shows to you that they believe it and that they trust things to lie in His hands - then you learn more about forgiveness and what it means.
- You can be the first one to apologize. Mom was a peacekeeper and if I was having a dispute with someone else in the family she would appeal to me to be the first one to apologize (did she ever tell anyone else to do this or just me?). It always felt (feelings are not facts) like I had to be the one apologizing - pretty stubborn hay?
- Clean up as you go. When you are cooking or baking - clean as you go, put things away after you use them. That way your kitchen won't be so messy at the end. I try my best to remember that one. Hopefully it's one of those things that if you try hard enough that it just becomes a habit and comes naturally without you realizing it.
- Gardening is Therapeutic. Mom was always putzing around in the garden in the summer. I don't water the garden (Will and Aleana do that) or putz as much as she did but I LOVE our veggie and flower gardens and I love making planters every spring. The first spring after Mom passed away I made a point of making planters to commemorate her, I enjoy planning things out, the weeding (believe it or not) and harvesting everything in the fall and it has been therapy ever since!!!
Not a day goes by that I don't think of Mom and on the days that I think of her alot then I try to focus on the gifts that she left me and every one else. I try to think about all the blessings that the LORD gave us through her. I try to think about how completely happy she is now and how much better off she is. I try to remind myself that when I would see her struggle so much with her pain that I would pray for her relief. Ten years is a long time - alot of healing has happened and it's been a long time to be without her. Overall I am thankful for my faith and my strong belief that I will see her again some day and that I just need to be patient and in the process BE a good MOM.
Praise be to God,
The God Praise,
Mercy and Truth are all His ways,
Wonders of Grace to God belong,
Repeat His Mercies in your Song.
That is really nice Gloria! She definitely taught us a lot! Funny though I don't remember ever having to apologize for anything. haha Just kidding!! Don't forget the clean your sinks with comet after dinner. :)
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Love this post, Gloria! It must have been difficult to write, yet good for your heart :) What a beautiful reminder of all the blessings God gave you through your Mom! HUGS to you!
ReplyDeleteVery nice post, Gloria. We miss her too. I would add another thing to the list. 11) Don't lose your sense of humour. Your mom had a great sense of humour that was off-the-wall! I know where Wes gets his sense of humour from. Someone (pretty sure it was Uncle Henry V.) told me it comes from your mom's side. I will never forget your mom's wicked sense of humour and the sneaky ways she had whether it was hiding her stash of chocolate around the house or covering the "No smoking" sign on the table at the farmer's market. We shared so many laughs over one of her favourite treats - coke and icecream floats and how she would take me out after TOPS meetings to pig-out at a local restaurant. LOL So many memories put a smile on my face.
ReplyDeleteAlso the way she showed hospitality and welcomed people in the home even when she was so down. She did so much to make events like Christmas and Thanksgiving real cozy and special. She also reached out to those who had no family around (James W., Trevor H., etc.) to make them feel part of things. She was a real loving person who bent over backwards to do things. Now that I have more experience as a mother with more kids, I appreciate it even more than I did then. She treated me like gold.
P.S. Did get your phone message last night. We rec'd 3 messages in the hour I was on the phone with your beloved sister. ;-)
Wes has fond memories of her being the first up during family camping trips starting the fire and serving breakfast and nicely mushing up meds into peanut butter sandwiches. LOL...all a labour of love. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat is a great post Gloria. I have been thinking about you lately, hoping things are going well for you. I am sure you are looking forward to summer.
ReplyDeleteCindy