Hi Everyone,
Happy Mother’s Day! We had a great day. I love having the three kids together. JohnPaul and Caitlin arrived just after lunch time. It was a beautiful day, warm with a slight breeze. It was nice to go back to our favorite spot by the goose pond. There are three park benches at one end of the pond up against a tall stone wall. Flanking the benches on either side are flowering pear trees. We park Corey under the shade of the tree to the far right facing the pond and the gazebo. JohnPaul always sits to her right on the right bench. Caitlin and I choose the middle bench to sit in the sun; I sit to Caitlin’s right positioning her in the middle.
As we begin to relax pretending that we are on some exotic island enjoying the sun at our imaginary poolside, suddenly we are pelted by berries. Looking to our left, there is JohnPaul and Corey smiling preparing to zing a few more at us. JohnPaul defended their actions by saying, “what did you expect? We’re sitting under an ammo tree”! I bent down to take a closer look at the berries, quickly picked up the scattered pellets and threw them back at the attackers! Needless to say, it was a berry war. Poor Caitlin was in the crossfire. Her only response was, “clearly I’m the only adult here”.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was filled with more laughter meeting Caitlin’s latest stand-up character and shenanigans with JohnPaul as he calls it (check out the gallery for a picture of him and Corey).
Last years Mothers Day celebration was much different. Corey’s girlfriends presented me with a gift from Corey that hangs in her room today; an Inspirational Word Sign ~ BELIEVE. At that time Corey could only give us a ½ smile and thumbs up. We relied on that word to push through each day without any promise that we would come close to what we hoped to achieve. Sometimes that’s what it takes; head down and forge forward. When you need a break, take time to look back and truly appreciate the distance you traveled. Your accomplishment will empower you to see what you can achieve next.
Corey last year seems like a lifetime ago. I’m grateful you can’t recall the physical limitations you had. Truthfully, the details of where you were are only important when you need perspective for overcoming today’s challenges. The fundamentals are still there. You are still the strong, determined, independent, and spirited, never back down, in your face confident woman I wrote to a year ago. You can do anything you set your mind to…including throwing berry ammo at your mom (although you need to work on your aim)!
Honey, I think this year’s word will be PATIENCE to Believe in the phrase Matter of Time. Everyday there are incremental changes and sometimes it’s difficult to see just how significant they are until we look back and compare. We still have a long road ahead of us but I can’t help but get excited when I think of what your accomplishments will be by next mother’s day.
On a personal note – I’d like to share my Mother’s Day gift from Corey this year;
Corey fell asleep at 8:30pm waking abruptly at 11pm with a severe Charlie Horse in her upper left thigh and extreme pain in her right ankle. I used massage therapy to release the spasm and as we waited for pain medication to lessen her pain Corey reached out for my arm. She pulled me closer to give me a hug and a kiss. Looking at me she said, “You are my mom” ~ “I love you so much” ~ “To the moon and back” ~ “You are my best mom”
Hallmark couldn’t write a better Mother’s Day card! xoxo