Happy Birthday Mommy! (February 5, 1951)

As many of you know my mother passed away when I was 16 years young. I will never forget that day. It was so hard for my brother and I as well as our family to get over the pain of losing her. She was such a wonderful person...beautiful inside and out. She was born in 1951 so she would be 58 this year.

Although my time with her was short I was blessed to have had her raise me into who I am today. She instilled so many of values in my brother and I ... for that I thank her. I continue to be a better person everyday. I admire her for being such a loving mother, so independent, strong-willed, responsible yet carefree, funny, couragious, simple, talented, honest, religious, and beautiful person.

I hope that one day my children will feel the same about me. I have missed my mother for all these years but not nearly as much as I do today during these times. Just for her to be able to share in the joy that I am feeling raising these two beautiful babies. I know that one day we will meet again and it makes me happy inside knowing she is in a better place and looking down but I still miss her and feel the way I feel everyday.

Even though Sophia and Noah will never get the chance to meet her I will be sure to tell them all about her and show them pictures. I will make sure they know how much she loved adventure, nature, music, the beach and the river. How she loved all kinds of animals especially dogs! How she loved to ski, cook, break out the china for special dinners, make tuna nuna casserole and potato chip chicken, loved opium perfume, loved to lay out ALOT, always looked great in a bikini, to read a good love story, horseback ride, travel, shop, go swimming, dress up for halloween, make brownies, loved long hair, loved parties, going to dinner, tennis, to garden, loved being a mom, daughter, sister, good friend, and even more just loved being with family.

She made sure that we knew college was important as well as independence. She taught me to write/journal when I felt down. To take pictures of things I loved. To cry and let it out. To be honest and have faith. To have inner beauty. To smile. To take care of myself. To go after my dreams. To fight for what I believe in. Above all she taught me that family always comes first and to not be afraid to love and love hard.

I remember she would make my lunch for school and there would always be a lil not inside with hearts that said "I love you dee-dee!" She would kiss me every night before I went to sleep and say my prayers with me and say "don't let the bed bugs bite!" She would make the best birthday cakes and threw us the best birthday parties. Christmas and all holidays were ALWAYs amazing. The memories of her are endless. These are things I hope to show better towards my children because if they could have memories like I did, then I know they would feel happiness. Anyway, sorry for the sappy blog ... I just wanted to share a lil bit about the wonderful person that is greatly missed more than she will ever know. I know she would have been the greatest grandma ever! I love you Mom and I miss you.