My Mom

Mother's Day is coming up. I've never really given it too much thought. I love my mom. She knows. We're good right?
Being a mom to 4 kids changes things though. My entire life is dedicated to them; every penny is spent on them, my every waking hour (and at least half of my sleeping ones) are full of them.
My mom had 7 kids. I'm sorry; my mom HAS 7 kids. I can't imagine how she dealt. Well, yes I can actually. She put her life on hold. Raising kids and doing everything she could for them was her life. She was constantly in the car driving us who knows where; probably to a ballet class. Or voice lessons. Whatever it was, it was for our enrichment and it wasn't cheap.
I have a couple of specific memories of my childhood that I'm going to write down. Should I ever be tempted to take her for granted, I have them here to remind me.
The first one is of scripture study in the morning. We sat around the table for breakfast. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I ate cereal in the morning, something my poor kids do every day. As we ate, we took turns reading from the Book of Mormon. We each had our own copy that stayed in the window sill by the table. I've often wanted to follow that example, but I have no idea how we did it. It is a remarkable feat to have scripture study in the morning with the entire family. To have that in a family requires a mother with a strong testimony and commitment to the gospel. She has to care about her children enough to fight their complaining and introduce them to habits that are hard to maintain. I can barely drag my butt out of bed to get my kids off to school. Imagine her dedication!
My next one starts around a kitchen table as well. We had water fights. Someone would throw a glass of water. It didn't matter who started it. Soon everyone would be in on it. The water is flying in the kitchen, we get to the back door, we continue outside. I don't remember cleaning up one single cup of thrown water. Can you imagine letting your 7 children make a bathtub of your kitchen? What a nightmare. She has way more patience than I do!
Lastly, I have Galena. I don't speak to a specific memory here, but to all of it. My parents spent thousands of dollars every year for the experiences we got. We got to travel and participate in some amazing things. I was in the national fourth of July parade in Washington DC one year. I got to go on cruises and perform in a way that usually only professionals get to do. They spent money that they could have been saving for a rainy day. Rainy days are upon all and I don't think my parents regret one penny of it. My mom made spent hours upon hours of sewing to make sure we had updated costumes. She worked her butt off planning tour and working finances to fulfill her volunteer hours.
These three memories are the tip of the iceberg. I chose them because they are examples of specific things given to us by my parents that my mom had a huge part in. She blessed our lives by trying to instill a love of the gospel in us, she let us have fun and be children, she dedicated her time and money to making sure that we had the very best possible opportunities.
My mom continues to do whatever she can for her kids. Her role has changed as we've grown into adults and had our own families, but she is still there for any one of us that needs her. Her role now is taking care of our dad more than anything. How amazing that she has any energy left! I am personally so grateful that dad has her. She is a caregiver like no other I've seen. She loves him so unconditionally that it's enough to make my eyes well up just writing about it.
Her life has been and continues to be her family. What a great example she is to me and all my siblings who were so lucky to have her.