Today, I am Thankful for: My Mom

Again, I know I was going to wait until next week to be thankful for the people in my life, but once again, I find it hard to resist!

I had lunch today with my mom. And let me tell you - an hour is NEVER enough. She and I could litterally talk for hours. And we have! And I always realize way too late just how much I have to tell her when I see her. I need more hours in the day.

When I was younger, I definitely went through that whole "I don't need anyone - including my Mom" phase. We had your typical arguments and miscommunications, as any teenager does with their mother. But I consider myself SO lucky. I know others who never moved out of that stage. Or worse, I know some who went from typical miscommunication to outright NO communication. But not me and my mom. We worked through that awkward phase of mine and now, she isn't just my mom. She's one of my best friends.

I can seriously tell her ANYTHING. And sometimes that is great, and sometimes, I have to remember, she's still my mom. Haha. But she takes it all in stride and with a heck of a lot of grace.

Best of all, my mom has never been "Mom," as so many others call their mothers. Nope, she hated that. And when I was younger that annoyed the crap out of me. But as time has gone on, I'm so thankful she never gave in. She's MamaBear. Or Mama for short. And that title says so much about the kind of mom she is. She's warm and compassionate. She's protective and inclusive. No, she's not fuzzy, but she certainly is cuddly! She gives great MamaBear hugs! She listens really well and always seems to say the right thing - even when the right thing is the LAST thing you wanted to hear. She's got great judgment and she's just so darn cute on top of it all!

My Mama has always been the proud type - proud of her husband, proud of her baby girls, proud of her family. She's always encouraged both me and my sister in whatever it was we were taking on. And she never missed an opportunity to tell us just how proud of us she was. I think it was (and still is) a huge contributor to why we both succeeded in a lot of areas growing up. I owe a lot to my Mama. She believed in me and taught me to believe in myself. She sacrificed so much to give me everything she could. I'm super lucky to have someone like her looking out for me.

I tell people that if I end up being half the Mama she is, then I know I'm doing something right. She'll be embarrassed that I said that on here, knowing that a whopping 2 dozen people read my blog now. But it's true. She's a really special woman and I'm so thankful God put the two of us together. He knew I needed a mom like her - He knew I needed a MamaBear.

I'm Thankful that I have always had someone looking out for me. I am thankful I have always had someone to turn to. I am thankful that I have always had someone there willing to pick up the pieces, even when the reason a situation was such a mess was totally my fault. I am thankful for her wisdom and her insight. OH! And a super big shout out to her home remedies, too! (Remember the pics of the tar on the entire Exec Cab's feet my Senior year in college? Yea - MamBear to the rescue on that one!)

My mom is more than a mom to me. She's an inspiration. She's a goal of something to live up to. She's an example worth following. And she's such an amazing friend. I'm SUPER thankful for my MamaBear.

Love Jen
;-)