Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's 56th birthday and I thought a great way to remember her was to share a memory I have of one of her birthdays. I will never forget it! Growing up, to celebrate either Dad or Mom's birthday we would usually go out to eat and to a movie or something that involved all of us as a family. It was the year that the movie Dumb and Dumber came out. After watching Ace Ventura our family (well everyone but Mom) had become big Jim Carrey fans. The three of us (Dad, Bailey, and I) were dying to see Dumb and Dumber and it just so happened to be released very close to Mom's birthday. She fought us tooth and nail but in the end the 3 of us won out and she spent her birthday "watching" the movie and laughing at Dad laugh himself to tears at probably one of the most stupid movies of all time. :) (Bailey and I were at that stage where it was very un-cool to sit with your parents so we were several rows in front of them--but I guarantee we were laughing just as much as Dad was!) If she were still here we'd still laugh about that night! She was always making sacrifices for the rest of us--big or small. That is just the kind of mom and person she was!

I think of my mom every day...some days more so than others but she is never far from my mind. Some days are worse than others too; just last night I was joking around with Joe about something then I thought of my mom's birthday and instantly started sobbing and could not stop. Other times I can talk about her as if nothing ever happened. It's such a bizarre journey and I can't imagine how the rest of it will play out. All I can do is hang on tight to the memories I have of her and keep those memories alive for myself and for the rest of my family...especially for Sydney whose time with her "mamaw" was cut way too short.

If you've made it this far--thanks for reading. It isn't one of my typical posts that's for sure. Once I "dump" the pictures from our camera to the computer, I'll post our Christmas pictures!