Today was Mother's Day in the US, and one of the reasons Mom flew me home. Since my parents divorce a year and a half ago (after 40 years of marriage) my Mom has really struggled being alone. Any grandparent would relate to Mom's situation, all 8 of her grandchildren live out of her state or country, which makes for one sad and lonely grandma. To go along with that is the fact that 3 of her 4 children live out of state or country. Therefore, Mom felt a strong need to have her children in her home with her..... especially on Mother's Day. So she flew us girls in. It would have been a small fortune to fly all of the families home, so we lucky Mom's were Gucci's choice visitors.
It was fun being all together at church on Mother's Day. When we arrived at church it was a friends sons Missionary homecoming. A mission is a 2 year voluntary act of service for 19 year old boys in our faith or an 18month service for 21 year old girls. If you have a missionary come to your home that is older than that, it probably is not a missionary from our Faith. Anyway, when we got there one of the leaders of our church was at the meeting, so Sherri had Birdo take a picture which I weaseled my way into. Don't judge us because our sins are different from yours. We took the picture in the chapel, we know you shouldn't, but we had to seize our opportunity :) After the meeting we had a chat with President Uchtdorf, and Grandma Great swooned at his "hotness." I invited him to come and visit our Stake in the UK, he just smiled.
After church Sherri and Shannon agreed to come on a walk with me while Birdo and Sheldon prepared for dinner. It was a gorgeous day and I thoroughly enjoyed our stroll around the hills and golf course.
Shannon and Sherri
Shannon, Sherri, and Me. I love the shadow from us trying to take the picture.
We invited mom's friend to join us for dinner and games. We played a game called "Imaginiff" that could not have possibly made the poor fellow feel more uncomfortable. The game goes something like this: "Imaginiff Ashley were a dessert would she be: 1- a Tart, 2- a Chocolate Cake, 3- a Bread Pudding, 4- Lemon Sorbet." You then have to put which you think they would be and usually explain why. Well this man did not know us from Adam, so he had to guess without offending us......poor fellow. We had a good time with him though. He and mom are not in a relationship, they are just friends and keep each other good company. We all really like him, he is very simple, and very attentive to mom.
At the end of the day we discovered that Mom had broken out in painful shingles all down her left side of her back, bum, leg, and groin. Mom was in terrible pain, but this woman is such a Rock Star that you would never know just how painful it is. My Mom is not a complainer, she just pulls herself up by the bootstraps and carries on. Birdo was able to get her a Dr.'s appointment and of course she was diagnosed to have the rare nerve pain associated with the illness.
A tribute to my mom:
I get really emotional when I think about my mom, she truly is the most amazing woman I have EVER known and feel like if I am 1/10 the mother she has been then I will have done a good job. Mom's shoes are WAY too big to fill, but I try my hardest. I feel like the best way to tell my mom thank you for being such a good Mom is to try to be the kind of mother she is. My mom is a creative genius and an entrepreneur. Mom has had a dancing school for over 40 years and has 250 students and a waiting list each year of people trying to get into her school. My Mom is a woman of Faith, has always put God and Christ first in her life, and has served diligently in our church. Mom is funny.....like super funny. Mom and I can laugh our heads off at anything and we both LOVE people watching. Mom and I love bumming around in ball caps and old t-shirts, but we also know how to and love to glam up for special occasions. Mom is a fearless warrior and a hard hard worker. Mom is compassionate, thoughtful, grateful, and caring. My mom possesses all of the qualities that I would wish to have. I am grateful each day that I have her for my mother and her stellar example to emulate. Thanks mom for birthing, nurturing, teaching, disciplining, and encouraging me. I love you.
