Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms and grandmoms out there. I have had the privilege of having a total of three women in my life whom I view as moms. My biological mother, Joyce. My stepmother, Carolyn. My mother-in-law, Bonnie. My relationship with my dad was not great and it is a long and complicated story that I will not discuss at this time, however, my dad made 2 really good decisions in his life and those were my mom and Carolyn.
My mom married young and began having babies right off the bat. I am number two of the four children that my parents had. My older sister is Virginia and my younger sister is Vicki. My youngest sibling is my only brother, Roy. I am the middle kid, kind of. As a child my mom was the stable factor in my life. She, for most of my young life, was a stay-at-home mom. In elementary school I walked home for lunch, and she would have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ready for me to eat – she cut the sandwich at an angle for me because that’s how I preferred it. I’d watch some cartoons and then back to school for the afternoon. We never had much money so there were very few, if any, luxuries in our lives. Mom kept a clean house and made almost all our meals. As a kid, we ate at McDonalds once or twice a year – it was a big treat! We had a beautiful Irish Setter dog named Lee during those years. Our home life was far from peaceful or well-functioning, but as stated, mom was the stable person in my life whom I felt that I could count on.
Carolyn came into my life as a young teenager and she, also, began having babies right off the bat. She gave me two half-sisters, Valerie and Veronica. I’m sorry to say that life with dad was not much easier for his “2nd family” than it was for his 1st family. I quickly learned that Carolyn was going to be the stabilizing force in this situation also. She seemed to love and accept us 4 kids from dad’s 1st marriage right away and, I believe, we all came to love her quickly. I know that I’ve disappointed her a few times, but she never let it show or made me feel unwelcome. She was dealing with toddlers at the same time that she was dealing with dad’s teenage children. She had her hands full. She is a very kind person and, even after dad’s death, I continue to love her and think of her as my 2nd mom.
Bonnie was my mother-in-law. She was a woman who loved the Lord and loved her husband and boys. She had 3 sons and my husband, Greg, was her oldest. I was afraid to meet her initially as I was going to be “taking” her first born son away from her. I was afraid that no matter what, she would view me as unworthy for her son. I was completely wrong. She welcomed me warmly and I never felt unwanted. She did worry about Greg taking on a wife with 2 daughters, but she quickly came to love Tiff and Brynn as if her own granddaughters. As Hannah and Kaleb came into the picture, she treated all 4 of them the same. She developed dementia and as she lost her ability to know who I was, I realized that I would lose her much sooner than Greg would. She died 3 years ago and I miss her much. I will see her again in Glory and I look forward to that.
I view all three of these women as a blessing in my life and so happy that God put each one with me. I hope that all of us appreciate and love the women of our lives and never take them for granted, they will not always be there. I could say much more about each of them but that would take too long. I love you mom, Carolyn and Bonnie!!
Day 25 is done and day 26 is on its way. “It’s not easy being a mom. If it were easy, fathers would do it.” – Betty White
