An Ode to Mom

Me as a small child:  “Mom, watch this!”  And she did.  And sometimes she followed it with a “Be careful.” Or “Good job!” Or a hearty laugh. Or “That’s great!”   

A tap dance recital when I was four or five years old, dressed in the cutest ever skunk costume, I’m on stage doing the two tap dance moves that four year-olds are taught, and she’s in the front row, laughing hysterically because we’re all so dang cute. 

When I started school: “Can you quiz me on my words for my spelling test?” (Yes, I was a nerd.)  And she did.  Even though she had gotten up so early to get my sister and me ready for day care, gone to work, picked us up from daycare, come home, made dinner, and was clearly exhausted. 

When I was 9 and joined Little Miss Softball.  Did she know anything about softball?  I don’t think so.  But she brought me there…for practice, for games, from the time I was 9 years old through my senior year as co-captain of the softball team in high school.

Concert band concerts, marching band parades, jazz band concerts (yes, band nerd, too)…and all of the after school practices that went with them.  Yes, she was there, or got me there, or got me home.

I left home 5 days after high school graduation, moved over 1,000 miles away to go to college, but not because I wanted to get away from home.  Because my mother had always supported me and encouraged me to do what was right for me.  To be strong, independent, but to always know I could come home whenever I needed. 

As luck would have it, Mom moved to Florida, also, after I moved here.  And I did have to go home at one point—when Brian and I were building our house and trying to get the condo ready for sale, we moved in with her for 4-5 months.  She was there for us.

As an adult, I have come to know her as a friend, and she has continued her unyielding support of whatever endeavor I take on.  Work, play, home, anything.  She is proud of me, and she should be proud of herself, because she made me what I am today.  I try to emulate her generosity, her kindness, her open mind, her humor, her strength, her honesty.  Sometimes I feel I do a good job, other times I know I still have a lot to learn from her.

She will be traveling to Louisville with me to support me in my Ironman race.  But it’s the support she’s provided me throughout my lifetime that has given me the courage and confidence to even embark on this journey.  I know I am lucky to have a mother like her, and I will never take her for granted.

Thank you, and I love you, Mom!