Ode to my Mother

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. She would have been 64 years old. I just wanted to say that she was a great mom to me and my big brother Rick. We loved her very much. I miss her everyday but know that she is in a better place and watching over us like she did here on earth. She was also a great grandma to my boys and to my niece Taylor. They miss her very much but are they also know that she is in a better place and she is out of pain now. Growing up my mother always made sure that we had what we needed to get through school and to help us become the parents that we are today.

My parents were married in Dec of 1966 and they were happy up until I was 12 years old. Then they divorced and my mom took me and my brother to raise us. She never talked bad about anyone not even my dad. She was still in love with him just couldn't live with him is what she always told us. But even though she was alone raising us she made sure that we got to and from school and all of our church activities.

I got to go to Canada with my Grandma Mealey, my mom and my brother when I was little. She made sure that we knew who are family was and were we came from. This is a picture of 4 generations that was taken when we went up to Canada. My Granny Souch (Grandma Mealey's mom), My Grandma Mealey, My Mom and me. I think I was 8 years old in this picture.

My mom made sure that I graduated from High School. She was so proud of me that day. I was so happy that she was there for me too. My Senior year was tough with having to have a surgery at the beginning and having to be out of school for 3 months. She helped me fight to be able to go to the prom, grad night and actually be able to paricipate in my high school graduation ceremony. I am glad that she was such a fighter for me.

She was always a big cheerleader for me and my brother in everything we did. She was also a great supporter to all of my friends that were around me too. When ever there was anything that they needed she tried to help them out.

Even when we made bad choices she never told us that she told us so. She let us make the choices and then learn from what we did. Like when I married my first husband Travis Anderson. She never told me that I wasn't going to be unhappy and wished us both the best in our marriage. And when that marriage failed she let me come back home and try and pick up the pieces after the hurt that I was going through. She helped me get back to church and make the right choices with my next one. She was extremely happy when I found Eric and went to the temple to be sealed and take out my own endownments. She supported me the whole way through it. Even with having a cast on her hand from having surgery she was there for me.

She was so excited that the day she became a grandma when my niece Taylor was born. She was the best grandma to her and my boys. I know that her life has been changed the day that my mom passed away. She is a great young women today for some of the things that my mom did for her.

This was the last picture takem of my mom with her grandsons. They were very excited to have a great grandma like my mom. She was so great to them. I believe that they are going to be great young men because of some of the things that she taught my boys. Plus she taught me how to be a great mom for my boys. The day that I learned that I needed to say goodbye to my mom was a hard one for me. But she taught me that I will see her again and with my temple blessings and hers I will be able to do that. I am so glad that she was my mom and was able to teach me to be a great mom too.