A tribute to My Mother.

 Happy Mother's Day Friends.  

A tribute to a woman of quiet strength and overflowing love!! 

Some women leave a legacy not through grand gestures, but through the quiet, steady rhythm of sacrificial love. My Mother was one of those women. At just 23 years old, her mother passed away.....an unimaginable grief made heavier by the responsibility left behind. With two young brothers, ages 7 and 11, suddenly needing care and guidance. My mother didn't hesitate to step in and help her dad take care of her young brothers.  She stepped into the role of second mother and big sister, pouring her heart into raising them as if they were her own children. I have to give credit to my dad as well for being there, supporting my mom and helping to take care of her little siblings. 

Our home was never just a house....it was a haven. It was a place where love simmered and open arms were always waiting. She made sure we all felt safe and loved, whether we were her own children or the extra ones that God placed in her life. 

And life, as it often does, brought more heartache. When we loss my sister in a tragic car accident, my mother once again picked up the pieces with grace and determination. Without blinking and eye, she and my dad became parents all over again. This time to three grieving grandchildren. She raised them with the same devotion and fierce love that she had always shown to me, my siblings and my uncles. She balanced her own grief with grace, with pain, but mostly with purpose.  Somehow, she made room in her heart to mother us all..... through it all. 

My mother was the kind of woman who gave endlessly without complaint. She was the soft place for us to go to be comforted, she was the voice of reason, the hands that cooked, and she had the hands that healed our wounds. She never needed a stage, as she lived her love in the everyday. She modeled faith by living it and we all witnessed her strength as she walked through trials with her head held high. The result for all of us, was her kindness that she gave to each of us, so freely. 

She always found peace in her garden of flowers for which she loved. My mom not only grew her family in love, but she grew her flowers too. Her yard was always blooming, just like her heart. She truly had a gift for bringing things to life: People, plants and hope. What she touched, she nurtured. What she gave, she gave fully. 

If there ever was a Proverbs 31 woman, it was my mom!!!

Today, and every day, I honor her for being the woman, the wife, the sister, the grandmother, and the mom that she was. She had many sleepless nights, but her faith in God gave her the strength to be the lady God intended for her to be. For all of the love that she poured into her family, her legacy lives on in each of us. We have a strong family bond and she taught us to love, to give and to always show up for one another. 

Thank you Mother....You were, and always will  be my hero. 

Wishing you all a very beautiful Mother's day.

Shug