Happy Mother's Day!

Every Mother’s Day, I take a step back and reflect on all that my mother has done for me, every day of my life. But I think this past year especially has shown us a lot of the things we had been taking for granted. For me, one of those things was my relationship with my mother. All the phone calls in the world didn’t replace being able to visit my parents in person, and I am so, so grateful to be able to safely see them again. 

Growing up, I don’t think I ever fully appreciated all that my mother did for me. Now, I’m a mom myself to two daughters, and I look back at everything she did for us and she seems like Superwoman. While working full-time as a teacher, taking college classes, and running our household, she found the hours in the day to host fabulous home birthday parties, serve as president of our PTA, and take us roller skating every Friday night. She cooked nightly sit-down family dinners, she kept the house clean, she did our laundry, she helped us with our homework, and nothing ever slipped between the cracks. Well, except for a few little things — I think eventually, she put her foot down and stopped ironing my dad’s underwear. My mom set a high, high bar for motherhood, one that I’m constantly striving to reach.

When I think of what it means to be a strong woman, I think of my mother. She taught me self-confidence, she taught me to value education, and she taught me to value hard work. But she also loves to have fun and she loves the outdoors. To her, age is just a number, and it’s never too late to learn something new. Even though I have a family of my own now, I’m still learning from her. She’s truly the queen of Southern home cooking, and one day, I’ll master her buttermilk biscuits.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! And to all the other moms out there, I hope today you’re able to take a moment to slow down and focus on what’s truly important to you.

 Photo by Shannon Ferguson on Unsplash.