Family Bios – My Mother

If you know my mom, then you definitely don’t need to read a post by me talking about her to be amazed. Though, I am willing to bet, no matter how well you know her, that you don’t know everything amazing about her. Now, I don’t have enough free time, and I doubt the servers of wordpress could handle a post containing everything amazing about my mom, but here are a few of the highlights.

Easily the most impressive thing about my mom, and the very thing I am trying to instill in myself, is her refusal to remain the same. My mother, over the course of twenty-eight years, homeschooled myself and my four siblings all the way from kindergarten until we graduated high school.  That fact alone is pretty astounding, but when you also consider that my mother’s high school education could barely be considered an education thanks to her teachers, you begin to catch a glimpse into how amazing my mother is. So what does a woman who has spent the last twenty-eight years of her life homeschooling her five children decide to do once she is free of the responsibility of educating them? Well, if you are the average human being you take a couple years to bask in your achievements. But, as you might have realized, my mother is far from average. Even before my youngest sister was graduated, my mother decided she wanted to go back and finish out her college degree. Granted she started off small, intending just to finish out her associates, but this is my mother we are talking about. As soon as she had a taste she decided that getting her bachelor’s degree is more her speed. Personally, if I were a betting man, I would put my money on her not stopping until she has her masters, if not a PhD.

For years my mother claimed she had a black thumb and everything plant she touched magically died. Looking back I think the fact that there five kids running around was probably the cause of this as opposed to the color of her thumbs. Since there were five of us, there were normally at least a couple of us, plus friends and neighborhood kids running around, because of this our yard resembled more of a wasteland than anything else. This was compounded by the fact that our neighborhood has a fair number of retired people who have made it their mission to make their yards look like something out of Better Homes and Garden. Yet, once again my mother decided to not be limited by her experience, or lack thereof, and as soon as we were old enough to enjoy activities that didn’t involve running around the yard my mom decided to do what she does best and improve things. She wasn’t afraid to ask for help, because you see my mother is also smart enough to know when she doesn’t know something, and even more importantly she isn’t afraid to try. In a couple short years my mother transformed our yard from a barren wasteland into the envy of our neighborhood. Complete with a couple of walkways, and a pack patio which my mother laid brick by brick. I could give you countless more examples of my mother, with no prior experience or know how in a particular area, deciding to tackle the project anyway and it coming out splendidly; the floors in their house, the back seat of my car and so on and so forth; however, I have more that I think you need to know about my mother.

My mom is also quite famous for refusing to take no for an answer. I honestly think I could call up Sprint, ask them for a pepperoni pizza to be delivered by a midget clown riding a unicycle, and the only question they would ask would be if I wanted hand tossed or deep dish. Because, you see, Sprint has learned from experience that it far easier to give my family what we want than to risk my mom calling.

My mother is also selfless. Given the choice to do something for herself, or something to help others, she chooses to help others so quickly I have often wondered if it even registers with her that she could make a different decision. More often than not my dad, my fellow siblings, and I have had to remind her that if she doesn’t take care of herself, she won’t be of any help to others.

As many stories as I could tell about my mother not being afraid to dive head first into any project, I could tell you twice as many stories about her sacrificing for my siblings and me. With five kids me mom spent quite a bit of time in the car driving us where ever we needed to be. I often would get annoyed at how much of my life was wasted riding with my mom while we picked up, dropped off, or were waiting on one of my siblings; funny how as a kid you really don’t have a clue. As annoying as it was at the time, looking back those are some of my more cherished memories with my mom. My mom, myself, and in all likelihood one if not two or three of my siblings driving all over town listening to Credence Clearwater Revival or Three Dog Night. I have often credited my dad with my appreciation of classic rock, although thinking back I probably owe more to my mom in that category.

I played soccer for seven years. Now, if you play or have played soccer you know that soccer is played in late fall and early spring, not exactly the most hospitable weather. If you played soccer in the town where I grew up you know that the fields where you play are pretty exposed and flat, meaning there was always lots of wind. Despite the fact that the weather was hardly ever nice, the fields sucked, and the bleachers were about as uncomfortable as wooden bleachers could be, my mom was always there. In all fairness, so was my dad, however you couldn’t hear him over my mom.

I am sitting her trying to decide on one word that would best describe my mom…but I don’t think there is one. That is the thing that never ceases to amaze me about my mom, she refuses to be defined or simply fall into any simple stereotype. She’s not afraid to push and challenge herself, to consider a new way of thinking, admit that she might be wrong, or more importantly, believe that she is capable. If you don’t know my mother, you really should.