Mothers what would we do without them?

Each Mother's Day we always took a photo of my mom and myself with my son Daniel's wife Tina and their four children...it's been several years since Nana (my mom-see our photo on left) was with us so thought I'd remember her and her influence on our lives. First of all she gave birth to me...then raised me alone as a young widow working as a telephone operator until her remarriage when I was 17 years old. She lived to be 89 years old and always put family first-worrying and caring for us was foremost in her life. Helping in any way she could, she didn't want to die because she felt she'd never see us again. Despite all my assurances that her departed family members were there waiting on the other side, she feared death and our separation. I often wonder how she is doing and pray for her happiness in heaven after a challenging turn on earth. I love you Mom and we will meet again. (Below is a photo of me with my twin grand daughters l-r Heather and Emilee and my dg-in-law Tina)

A quote to ponder from Sheri Dew in her book Saying It Like It Is... Happiness and joy come only when we are living up to who we are. Another quote for women like Sheri who are still single and never had the opportunity to become mothers...p. 54 While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord's language the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve "the mother of all living," and they did so before she even bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. She goes on to say that children need all the mothering they can get from all the women in their lives and I would add all the men in their lives...

Above photos of my son Dan cooking Mother's Day dinner-it was new and different Italian dish with chicken and capers-very good. Spent an enjoyable Mother's Day with family: saw 4 of my 5 grandchildren, had dinner with two of my sons and their wives-Dan and Tina, Jeff and Rachel, got a phone call message from my oldest son Frank, grandson Hakan and his wife Nedret in Santa Fe, and my bachelor son Brook in Seattle communicated with me via FACEBOOK with an email. I say I won at BINGO this year! I LOVE my family just wish we could ALL get together some time.