Thankful for day four: My mom on her birthday.

Today just happens to be my mother’s birthday. And seeing that it is a month full of thankfulness, well how can I not dedicate today’s thankfulness to her?

Moms, they are something special. They are there through thick, thin and every place in between. My mom is no different. Between my two sisters and myself, we keep her a busy woman. She helps out with little resistance, complaint or thought of herself. She is the first one to help out, bake something for complete strangers and offers to watch next door neighbors kids in an emergency.

Yes, my mom is Superwoman at times. 

And she has been my entire life. She hasn’t just been mom to three girls, but to every single kid she drove during her 35 years as a school bus driver. Yes, my mom was one of those drivers that brought sodas for the seniors on the bus during their final days of school, held art contest each and every season and had prizes for the winners (judged by the older kids). She would lend them money if they forgot. Wait for them as they ran to the bus on rainy days. She was the kind to decorate the bus during field trips, high school games and other events. As a student, it was super awesome to get on the bus to balloons and streamers in your school colors. As a daughter, it was even more awesome when you heard later how cool that was. Yes Mom, people did love it. And they still remember that sort of thing to this day.

Of course I am no longer in school, and she is no longer driving a bus. But that same spirit remains. I see it as she decorates for Halloween and Christmas and asks the neighborhood kids if they need anything. Then later invites them in to see my dad’s awesome train setup he does on an annual basis (this year he will add a Walt Disney World Resort Monorail to the collection) because well, she enjoys it. She is the type of mother that bakes cookies for the entire neighborhood and makes sure they are safe. And she is the type of person who on a Halloween night, when her next-door neighbor decides to take her kids out trick-or-treating, makes sure their house does not go unnoticed. She even has one of us stand there and hand out their candy so that a young mother can enjoy the holiday as well.

I see it as she watches my own son and the joy they bring to each other.  I am so thankful for her willingness to watch him throughout the years so we can work. Or while I have taken classes, gone to hockey games or simply enjoyed some time to myself.  I know how much he loves it in return. I know in years to come; those moments will be precious memories to both my mom and my little man.

So on this day, her birthday (I will politely leave off the number, because I love her and cherish my life), I want to say, I love you Mom, not just from me but from everyone. You may not realize it, but you are and have been a mom to so many people.

And we should all be so lucky and thankful to have a mom just like you.