One morning I was visiting with friends at a coffee shop while we waited for our kids’ practice to end. We were talking about how hard it is to run multiple kids to all of the things while being a working mom. One of them said to me, “I wish my mom was more like your mom. She is always there to help you when you need it.” I quietly nodded in agreement. While I knew she had always been a huge help to me, I didn’t realize how apparent it was to others.
A few months ago I was visiting with a friend on the phone. I had mentioned how my mom sometimes browns hamburger for me or drops off washed cartons of grapes, knowing how much her grandkids love grapes. “That’s an amazing gift,” she said. “I wish I had a meat mom.” Sometimes she drops off a home cooked dinner and sometimes she has fresh baked caramel rolls ready for her grandkids. Sometimes she throws in a couple rolls of paper towels, saying she bought too many, when I know she is never one to buy too much of anything.
She naturally does the dishes when she stops over, several of the containers drying in the sink are usually hers. She’s always trying to help lighten the load for me.
She has given me more grace than I deserve and loves me through it all. I didn’t always take her advice, but I have yet to hear, “I told you so”, even when I deserved it. In 5th grade I was adamant I wanted my bangs cut, she told me I wouldn’t like it, and she was right. In grad school I married someone she profusely told me I shouldn’t, but I didn’t listen. Six years later she was the first one there to move me and my kids out of the house the night we had to leave in a hurry. Through the little things and the big things, she never told me, “I told you so,” even when I deserved to hear it. I broke her heart a few times, and she loved me through it. She’s always reminded me that sometimes where we start out is where we were always meant to be. I had to move a thousand miles away a couple times to understand what she meant.
I watched through the years as she was there for friends during their hardest times, whether it was first holidays after a loss or driving them to chemo appointments. She was as wonderful of a friend as she was a mom- always showing up and offering support.
She told me to go chase my dreams, and I did, and when I wanted to quit a few times, she told me I came too far to stop now.
She was the mom who never missed a thing and now she is the grandma who never misses a thing.
She cheers the loudest, literally and figuratively.
The sequel was my favorite 