Saturday, November 20, 2010

Happy Birthday, Mom!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a birthday message to my dad, thanking him for being pretty much the worlds best father to me. Its true that he is. But you know what they say, right? Behind every great man there is a great woman.
This was true for my family as I was growing up. My mother, she is an amazing woman.

She talks sometimes about how my dad was usually the one that played with me, how he was the one who brought me home fun surprises like a brown bag full of candy. She has even suggested that she is a little regretful that she didn't "play" more. And its true that it was my dad who was my biggest playmate. But do you know why? Because my mom was making sure our house was in perfect condition at all times. She was providing us with a beautiful and clean home to play in. My dad, he made milk shakes for me and my friends at sleep overs (which, as I said last time, were famous in my circle of friends), but my mom was the one who made sure the house was ready for company and that the groceries had been bought in order to make those wonderful shakes! And yes, I loved my bags of candy, but I also adored all the beautiful clothes, bows, jewelry and other fun girlie things my mom would bring me home. My dad was so much fun when I was a growing up, and he was able to be because my mom was holding down the home-front.

Don't let the home-front-taking-care-of thing fool you though, because Betty Hinson is still plenty of fun! I remember countless "shopping sprees" and mommy-daughter lunches. I remember lots and lots of baking in the kitchen. She would make big, beautiful pies and let me help with those but then she would give me the scraps of dough and extra filling to make my own pies. As I got a little older, she was not afraid to let me explore the excitements of baking on my own, at the cost of her beautifully cleaned kitchen being destroyed. She would just let me do my thing, helping if needed, and then come in and clean the big mess up. Sleepovers often including a bit of baking by my girlfriends and I, thanks to my mom.
Speaking of sleep overs, as I became a teenager my house became the spot for hanging out amongst my friends. Why? Because my mom was so cool and so darn chill! I remember once when a few of my girlfriends had spent the night with me and for whatever reason we started a whipped cream food fight. That mess was all over the kitchen and in the entrance way. When my mom came into the room to see what all the noise was I remember my one friend looking at me like "Dude. We are all about to die." My mom didn't even raise her voice though! She just asked what the heck!?, laughed at our silliness, and gave us some rags to clean it up. My friends told me what a cool mom I had, but I already knew. This is just one of hundreds of her "cool" moments. I think it ranked up there with the great ones though. Its in hall of fame with the all the many of Church Camp trips and the pranks she would wake me and my friends up in the middle of the night to play (a camp tradition that no kid should miss out on!) and her making pancakes for me and my teenage friends at ten o clock at night. Yep, I was lucky to grow up with pretty cool mom.

I didn't always think she was cool though. We had our moments. Every mother-daughter team does. Ugh. And we had one really rough patch. But you know, she loved me through. She love me hard and full heartily. I would sit at the top of the stairs and scream at her, in fact I would scream just about anywhere at her, and she would almost always just stay calm. She would tell me once things had cooled down a bit, although at this particular time in my life things were never completely "cool" between the two of us, and let me k
now that I had hurt her but that she loved me, and that she always would. She showed me that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to push her away. She showed me the power of a mother's love. And the good news? We did eventually pop out of the other side to a much happier place. I full heartily believe that this was only because of my mother. I've seen horror stories of how other teens have gone through this or maybe even worse with their mothers and they never are able to repair it. But my mom love me too much to let that happen to us, and for that I am forever grateful.
Once we did pop out of that ugly place, we began to build a beautiful friendship. She made it clear to me that she was still my mother but she also wanted to one day be my friend. Today she is my best friend. She is my loyal companion and my biggest cheerleader in life. There are so many things that I have now because of her. She and my father are completely responsible for me being able to be a mother to my beautiful little boy. Without their support, financially, physically, emotionally, I would have not been able to successfully do it, never. My mom allowed me,
Daniel, and Dylan to live at her house with zero charge while Daniel finished school. I think all the time about what it may have been like with out that. We hardly made a dime back in those days. I've no idea how we would have survived. Not just did she support our little family during the two years that it took Daniel to finish school, she supported our young and fragile marriage. She would keep the baby for us to go on dates, even after she had worked full time all week. And she kept him several nights a week so that Daniel and I could work part time jobs for a little money of our own, money that she never once asked us for a penny of. We were able to have boost up to the beautiful life that we have now because of my mom. Even now, she helps us out all the time. She watches our kiddos for us so that we can go on dates. She comes over and teaches me how to do this or that around the house. She supports our kids and is at any event they might have. She loves us and our kids whole heartily.
Mom, its because of you that I know how to love my children without waiver. Its because of you that my family is what it is today. You are so much responsible for many of my best traits and I love you for that. You are my best friend and I love you with all my heart.

Happy Birthday!

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