Here's to you Mom

Abraham Lincoln once said, "Everything I am, I owe to my angel mother." Never has a statement been so true. My mother truly is an angel in my life and everything I am, I owe to her. A lot of my friends have described my mother as "the fun mom." She is full of life and energy that is infectious and contagious. When she enters a room, the party begins. She is an entertainer from head to toe and her ability to tell a good story tops it all. (I should know, she used to read to me every night before I went to sleep). However, besides being fun, my mother is full of love and warmth, and is the best teacher around. I do not expect any of you to truly understand my Mother from this post alone. As Virginia Woolf penned, " Fifty pairs of eyes were not enough to get round that one woman with." Even fifty eyes would not do the trick. However, I'd like to try to offer a few brief illuminations of how my mother has shaped my life.

When I close my eyes and picture my Mom, I often see us on an adventure. We are hiking to Lake Mary or Timpanogas Cave, running errands, heading on a family road trip in our big Dodge Van with "Camelot" wafting through the speakers, traipsing around foreign cities, riding double-Decker tour buses, and spending endless hours in any type of museum. My mother is notorious for spending the maximum amount of time, and then some, that is recommended for a museum visitor. She loves to learn and this love for learning has touched my life. She's instilled an endless curiosity and a thirst for knowledge into my bones. As a child, I had to learn patience as I waited anxiously at the exit of the museum. However, now I've finally caught up, or she's finally slowed down because we finish together. We spent an incredible 7 hours in the Louvre together last summer!

My mom sparked some of my greatest passions - Music, Theatre, History, Travel, Art, and Love. I could write paragraphs on each of these things, but I'll try to simply summarize a few of them. My Mom doesn't just play the piano, but she truly feels the music. She taught me to love classical music and introduced me to some of the greatest musicals of all time. To this day, every time I'm ill all I want to do is watch old musicals like "Calamity Jane" or "Naughty Marietta" with my mom by my side. If it weren't for my mother, I would not be the singer or the pianist I am today. She really pushed me and encouraged me to pursue my music. Thanks Mom!

My Mom is my best travel companion. We've gone on many adventures together in-state as well as outside the country. I love siting on the plane and chatting with my mom. Thanks to her, I feel confident that I could make my way around any airport, foreign city, or metro system. It will certainly be strange heading off to London alone this summer, but she'll be with me often as I remember our time there together 6 years ago.

I could pinpoint my enjoyment of art to the trips my mom and I took to the National Art Gallery in D.C. I clearly remember her teaching me about the symbols of Mary and Christ and searching around corners for Jan Van Eyck's "The annunciation." She also taught me to love history through our walks around historical monuments, sites, and museums. Only my mother would actually ask for history text books for Christmas! The time we've spent learning together about history and art has been amazing.

My Mom and I are the epitome of hopeless Romantics. We love LOVE! This was obvious as we watched the Royal Wedding together and sighed over the fairy tale-like atmosphere. I raved on and on about the gorgeous dress as my mother shed tears...literally. It is always such a beautiful and touching sight to see two people fall in love.

I truly could write novels about my memories with my mother. She is the greatest comfort in my life. As a little girl, I used to come into my parent's room in the morning and snuggle up next her. I think this was her tactic to get me to sleep a little longer, but I loved just resting there. Now as a grown woman, I still love waking up and going into my parent's room and lying next to my mother, who is without a doubt reading a romantic or historical book. We've had some great chats under those covers. She is the person I want to go to when things start going wrong. Her hugs have some strange ability to bring out all my pent up tears. (Sorry for crying into your shoulder so much Mom!)

So here's to you Mom! Happy Mother's day and Happy Birthday on the 22nd! All I can really say is - THANK YOU! Thank you for never restricting me or tying me down, thanks for letting me spread my wings, thanks for driving carpools to school and practice, thank you for the millions of meals including snacks of apples and cheese, thank you for pushing me to become the woman I am, and being the example of the mother I hope someday to be. Thank you for being my travel companion, my friend, my teacher, and of course- My mother. I'll like you forever, I'll love you for always, as long as I'm living... your baby I'll be!