Happy Mothers Day!!!

I know its just about over but there is so much I would love to say about this day. Where would we all be without our Mothers?  For me, I have such wonderful memories of my childhood and the special things my mom always did and continues to do for all of us. Its more than cooking and cleaning it is the endless hours of late nights when we are sick or the hand sewn beaded Barbie gowns I never appreciated, the long hours of laundry and cleaning up after me so I could run off and play. All that and so much more. My childhood is filled with memories of Christmas cookies and special music that allowed us to creep down the stairs to the awaiting gifts. The birthdays filled with my friends and my slumber parties with my mom telling us all scary stories all night. The hours of digging she did so I could plant an handful of pansies and take all the credit, all that and so much more.

I know that who I am today is largely because of who she was for me. Many of the things I love and hate were influenced by her ideas. The talent I have is a gift from her, that creative spirit, that free thinking part of her person that set her apart from all the other moms was passed down too. The rebel that I also became in certain things, breaking the mold of common and daring to be different. My appreciation for beautiful things and attention to etiquette details all became important to me because she instilled it at an early age. She came from nothing, poor and with nothing of value and built her own life through hard work and determination. She engrained a love of nature and gardening that runs deep in all of our veins, we all love to get our hands dirty.  None of us are afraid of hard work, knowing the lengths she went for each of us kids. There was never anything too hard, or expensive or unattainable if we wanted it bad enough and were willing to work for it. So many lessons I never knew I was learning at the time, shaping who I am today. She taught us how to do thing for ourselves and be independent, we often take on things that are far beyond us, but they happen. She would always say if you don't know how  to do it, fake it. She showed me how to love people, to love my family to give to others. It was not always easy but it is always worthwhile fighting out those mother/daughter conflicts during the teenage years. The years when you thought your mom knew nothing, to realize later she knew it all.

These lifelong gifts that we now own are invaluable as we pass then down to our own daughters and granddaughters.

Each mothers day I long to be with my mom, she lives too far to visit every Mothers Day since I try to go after Christmas but I always think of her, call her and celebrate the things she loves.

This year, the day before Mothers Day,for my sketchbook students, I had a Mother's Day sketchbook Tea Party. One women brought beautiful tea cups and saucers from her childhood another homemade cookies. We sketched things that reminded us of our moms and we ate and laughed and enjoyed the morning together talking about our moms.

I hope each of you can hold on too the good things that your moms brought to your lives. I know moms aren't perfect, but they are unique gifts that give of themselves to shape us into the women we have become! Happy Mothers Day to all of you!!