Dear Mom

Dear Mom,
Today was Mother's Day and I thought of you. You weren't here in person to be blessed and honored, but I hope you somehow know how much we love you still and how you have blessed our lives by having been a part of them. I miss you a little bit more all the time and hope that if it's possible in heaven, one day we'll be able to sit down together and share a long talk.


It was a beautiful day for a family gathering. We cooked hotdogs and sausages out on the back porch, shared baked beans and potato salad, and munched on cucumbers, carrots,

and sugar snap peas. I smiled a little when I got "Jim's" designer plates out of the cupboard. There may not be any credits to his account on the packaging, but they still make me proud and it feels a little bit like he's here with us when we use them.

My afternoon was full of grand- children; loud, ram- bunctious, and rascally. I love them all! They played in the sandbox, ran through the rain, and were generally childish, just like

they should be. We were missing Austin, along with Jim and Michele, but they'll be here in a couple of weeks and we're all looking forward to their visit. I'm always blessed when the whole family gathers together.

Thank you, Mom, for your love of children and family, for childhood days full of laughter, and for passing those things on to me so that I can share them with my kids and grandkids. I am blessed.