Daddy's Roses: Happy Birthday, Mother

My mother is an amazing woman, and today is her birthday. I'll bet she is mentioned in her other children's blogs today too. That would be The Median Sib, Alone on a Limb, and Blue Star Chronicles. You might even find a mention on Reasoned Audacity or Brannon's Florida (blogs belonging to two of her granddaughters.) You see, Mother is much-loved and much-admired by everyone who knows her. As a matter of fact she has been featured in several blogposts in the past few months.

I wrote a poem about her in 1997 and posted it here last November. My niece wrote about her here.

Of course I love my mother -- not just because she is my mother though, I also love her because -- oh --because she breaks into spontaneous song when she cooks or when she thinks no one is noticing... and she hums when she is too inhibited to sing .... and the songs are always wonderful old stood-the-test-of-time hymns of the church with uplifting words and melodies; ... and because she has always treated each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as valued and respected PEOPLE (not just her offspring) ...and she actually enjoys conversing with these family members; .... and because she tells great stories of her childhood.... and she loves to retell the 'cute kid' stories that people tell her; ...and because she gave all 7 of her children the kind of "raising" that caused us to grow up to be loving, thinking, principled and productive adults who contribute positively to our society. I could go on; but I will stop there.

Parenting can be a difficult and thankless job; but luckily a person is not just a role. My mother has been and is so very multi-faceted! I am thankful, not only for what she has done and given to our family and the world, but I am also thankful for who she IS.

She's fun! (and modest - I will get a scolding for putting this 50's vacation picture here!)

She's educated: Here she is when she graduated from eighth grade. An the other one right after HS graduation when she had already been married for two or three years and was the mother of one child, my older sister (who grew up to be the mother of the blogger who writes Reasoned Audacity, mentioned above.) She went on to attain B.S and M. Div. degrees.

She's elegant. Below, Mother is pictured with three of her 5 daughters in 1961. Left to right: Mother, Carol, me, and Jan. It's hard to tell who the parent is here, isn't it? Yes, this is how we dressed for special occasions in the fifties and sixties, kiddoes! We were going to a bridal shower for Jan

She's obedient to the God she loves. God called her to preach, so she obeyed and spread His gospel in a new way. The first picture below is in front of one of the churches she pastored. The other one was printed in the directory of United Methodist pastors of our conference.

She's a booklover and knowledge-seeker. In 2003, I attended a booksigning at the regional library when it featured local authors. Mother was there signing copies of her book, Recipes, Rhymes and Reflections. This picture is included here because it is the only one I have from that occasion of just her and me. There were better ones of her.

She is patient. Last July at our annual Roman Holiday, after having the entire family at her house for the weekend, we got this picture of Mother with 5 of her children. Why is it we never get around to posed pictures until after a few have left and everybody else is tired and looking a little haggard? Left to right: Joan, Carol, Ruth, Jan, Terrell, and Debi. (David and Beth were not present at the moment.)