pink slip...

my mom got her pink slip in june. it came in the form of my sister's high school diploma. that also means that my dad's paycheck was significantly reduced!! but the pink slip. for 28 years (that's 9 months less than they've been married), my mom has been just that. a mom. she's cooked, cleaned, cleaned up again, did laundry, cooked, cleaned up again, did more laundry, wiped bums and foreheads, managed the sick, bandaged boo-boos and broken hearts, and hugged a million times a day. it's a job i cannot even imagine (and i am smack dab in the middle of it). it's a job, that right now, seems never-ending. not necessarily in a bad way...

she helped wiht homework, provided rides, made sure lunches were made (well, for the kids she loved, anyway), dinners were prepared- to the measure that everyone liked them, threw parties, always had cookie dough and nachos ready whenever friends happened to drop by (and i do mean whenever...). and this hasn't even scratched the surface. and all while my dad worked, mostly out of town during the weeks.

recently, david and i were doing a Bible study, and that week was on the fact that our homes should be a little slice of Heaven- comforting, loving, welcoming, a place you WANT to go. that was my house. many of my friends have commented that i have the kind of parents they would give anything for. i am so blessed by BOTH of my parents.

it's my mom that i call at 3 in the morning (okay, not so much anymore), crying about anything and everything. it's my mom that i talk to probably ten times a day, never saying hello or good-bye, because the conversation will pick up where we left off. (it's something my hubby CAN'T understand!!)

but, the beginning part of her job is over. she's retired. (not so much from nursing, but...) twenty-eight years. it's rare that someone stays with a job that long. but, she never complained. she LOVED her job. and it showed. i can't even count the number of our friends over the years that called her mom. or on mother's day, the extra cards she got from non-biological kids!

i know i've written on mother's day about what a great mom i have, but i have been thinking about it a lot this weekend. maybe, also, because i benefit from these kids being grown. it means she has a lot more time for the other job... MOM-MOM (grandma). anyway, mom, you did a great job. all of your kids have had successful launches. we are all "normal". i can only hope to be JUST LIKE YOU when i grow up.