Thursday, December 20, 2012

mom rocks

i feel like i'm having a mini epiphany lately. it involves moms.

remember when you were a teenage girl (unless you were a boy, then i hope you don't remember that) and you thought your mom was so freaking annoying and dumb? remember when you looked at her clothes or shoes or hair or car and scoffed at the absurdity that was her? do you remember thinking how massively superior you were to her?

i do. i remember wondering why she had to be so embarrassing and thinking that with myself being so utterly cool, i should have had a much cooler mother so that we could match.

i wrote rude things about her in my diary. some days i was sure that my destiny would take me on a much more epic journey in life than hers had.

i was very foolish.

in the past few years, i've been realizing that my mom looks fantastic. she's fashionable and always fixed and looking good when she goes anywhere. she's thin and in shape and gets hit on by men all the time because, dang, you don't see a woman in her 60's looking like that very often.

my mom does interesting and lively things like climb trees with the grandkids and even hangs upside down from a branch from time to time. she takes mission trips around the globe because her faith is important to her and she lives it out in her life every day. she has girlfriends who she exercises, parties, and lunches with. she takes care of people who are sick or old or injured. she reads and writes and works out while still taking care of her family at home.

when i look at pictures of my mom before she had kids, i see a foxy lady. she wore super short mini skirts and even some crocheted hot pants she made for herself in her early twenties. and she didn't just wear them, she rocked them!

so where did that lady go while i was growing up? how could i not see the hot chick while i was busy considering myself to be a hot chick?

i finally realized that she was still there, but she was too busy taking care of me to take care of herself. she had four kids and a busy life filled with good things, but very few of them involved doing things for herself just because she wanted to do them. she didn't spend money to buy nice clothes for herself because she was spending it all to keep her children dressed and fed. she didn't bother much with makeup because she didn't have enough time for such things with so many other more important things on her plate.

for a few years i've been joking that my mom has a reverse aging gene going on, making her look younger as she ages. maybe that's not it though. maybe my eyes are just learning how to see her finally. maybe i'm just discovering that the phase of a mom's life where she's taking care of her young family isn't who she is. it's just a period of time, a step on her ladder of life.

mom, i'm thankful for you. you've set an amazing example for me all my life. i'm sorry for all the times i made fun of your clothes or shoes. i hope someday brooke will appreciate me as much as i appreciate you.


13 comments:

  1. Aww this post warms my heart Sherry. Just like you I have had times in the past where I've thought similar things about my parents but as time has went on I've definitely learned to appreciate my mum and all she's done for me, I love her a lot in all honesty.

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  2. We often don't appreciate the familiar.

    A genuine, respectful post about a person you love. Nice one Sherilin!

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  3. So nice! Yes I totally remember being a total bitch to my mom in my teens. I wish there was a way to break that cycle.

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  4. She is seriously not in her 60's...

    Go mamma!!!

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  5. i was such a butthead to her sometimes when i was younger. kind of funny how now i'm constantly told how much i look like her, and i ask to borrow her clothes.

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  6. I should be so lucky that my kids will write the same thing about me. Your mom's a lucky lady.
    It's quite a feeling to realize that-all of a sudden-we've become the "old" people to our children.
    I remember back in the 70s ("The Fashion Disaster Decade") during family get-togethers...
    "Don't worry, the old people will finally get tired and go home. Then, we can break into that case of PBR."
    Blah, blah, back in my day, frikkin' blah!!"
    "I know. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about their GD toe fungus."
    "And can you believe Dad's cousin puts creme that has PISS on it all over his heels??"
    "Hahaha, lookit them. Two hot dogs, a couple beers and they're zombies!!"
    "They can't even stay awake to play Pinochle anymore."
    "Yeah, Uncle Don looks like he's ready to fall off his chair, he's so tired."
    "I know! And it ain't even 9 o'clock!"
    Today...
    Hey, 9 o'clock is pretty late, you know.

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  7. You and your mom are two fine looking women. What a loving tribute you've given to her.

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  8. Mums do rock and your certainly does!
    I had a similar epiphany, realising how much my parents sacrificed for us four kids, on the one income.. we did not want for anything. My parents are amazing.

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  9. What a lovely tribute to your Mom! I'm sure she's proud of you, as well.

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  10. Such a nice post Sherilin... I'm sure it will mean a lot to your mom to read it. Love your picture :)

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  11. I hope one day my daughter writes something so nice about me!

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don't let me be the only one doing the talking around here. spill your guts!