The Mother Of All Posts

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, I’d like to honor an extraordinary woman: my Mama Llama. I’ve mentioned her a few times during the course of writing this blog, but have never before dedicated an entire post to her. Today seems like a fitting time to change that.

This incredible mom left me with a reassuring hug on my first day of kindergarten and then went home and cried the rest of the day.

This woman built up the importance of my role as Big Sister to the point that I never felt jealous or left out when my baby brother came along.

My Mama Llama loved to work but only took jobs that allowed her to be home when we were.

Our interests became her interests as she cheered us on in ballet and a myriad of sports. And she got to know our friends – in fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that they liked her better than me.

This is a woman whose friendly nature still invites complete strangers to share their life stories with her.

She remains my biggest fan and most honest critic.

My Mama Llama was and is always there to talk to me, and she understood that open dialogue with your kids must start very young in order to create – and sustain – a solid relationship.

Mom instilled in me a love of literature, reading and writing – but still said, “What are you, crazy?!?” when I announced my sophomore year in college that I was changing my major to English, also widely known as pre-unemployment. (To her credit, she changed her tune when I landed a job with my degree!)

This is a woman who showed me by example what truly matters in life: Family. Faith. Friends.

This remarkable lady now finds herself in the “sandwich” generation – being a mother to my brother and me and our spouses while also serving as a mother of sorts to HER mom as age reverses the roles in that relationship. In fact, she is with my grandmother today instead of celebrating her own Mother’s Day.

Since I’ve had my own children, I appreciate my Mama Llama so much more. It’s cliché, but you never fully understand the extent of your parents’ love and labor until you experience parenthood yourself. The truth is, my Mom and Dad had the largest single influence on shaping me as a person – and I hope I can give my girls those same values and life lessons.

Robert Browning said “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.” I couldn’t agree more.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!