Thanks Mom

It's that reflection time of year again. A time when I can look back on a year, a decade or maybe even a lifetime and express thanks for what I have been given.

As I started to jot down notes as to what I would write about one "theme", if I can be permitted to term it as that, kept jumping to the top of the page, my family, specifically my mom. You see I'm one of those fortunate individuals who was raised in a home where my mother and father looked at parenting as a privilege, not as a duty. I'm not saying this in a self righteous way, nor do I mean to say that bringing up my brothers and I was always easy. In all likeliness there were times when mom and dad had to have said to themselves, "what were we thinking?" What I do wish to convey is that my parents always let us know we were special to them.

As a child or, as an adult for that matter, isn't that what we all crave? To be loved. To feel as if we belong.

My mom is one of the coolest people I know. Some of the attributes that describe her are loving, gracious, available, funny, beautiful, compassionate, hip, intelligent, strong, determined and that is just to name a few.

Ever since I can remember my friends would tell me, "You're so lucky to have such a nice mom." Whenever I would hear this I'd just smile and say, "Thanks, I know". Not in a smug way, but in a manor that reflected how grateful I was/am to have her. In a way she became a mom to many of Gene, Mark and my friends growing up. Kind of a fill in for the void that many of them felt in their own lives.

Mom has an uncanny way of knowing when to listen when I feel the need to brag, but she can also whack me up beside the head with a dose of truth when I need to be put in my place. She's as fierce as a lion when one of her "babies" is being wronged by someone, yet she can be unselfishly tender hearted when a shoulder is needed to cry on. She has helped me in so many ways throughout my life that a few simple words on a page hardly seem to scratch the surface.

If I was offered the all the wealth of the world, fame, knowledge, power or any other "treasure" to give up my mother, that would an unfair bargain because none of those things even come close to the value of my mom.

I wish everyone could have the kind of mom, dad, brothers and family that I have, but I know that's not the case. If you're in this category my heart truly breaks for you. I know I can't empathise with you, I won't even pretend to. So regardless of your situation I hope you find peace and joy this Thanksgiving.

Thanks Mom.