Meet my mom...

This is my mom Gerri. Isn't she beautiful?

It's really Geraldine, but most call her Gerri.
She is also known as mom, grandmom, me-mom, my bride (by my dad obviously), friend, sister,
Geraldiny, crazy, fun, and in a life long ago, even Flip.
Of course this was when she was younger, but she really is just as beautiful now. Inside and out!

She probably had me not long after this picture was taken. She had me YOUNG. VERY YOUNG. she was 17 years old. YES, she was married, i guess they didn't think anything of that then.

We don't see each other as often as I would like, but we talk often, usually daily, sometimes multiple times a day. It could be just to see how each other are doing, what we are doing, check on the kids, or my brothers and their families. Sometimes for a recipe, or a phone number... it makes it feel like we are right next to each other.


I know she would like to see the grandkids more too. We live about 2 1/2 hours from each other, but it's not as easy as it seems like it would be for either of us to visit the other.

I have the 4 boys, their schedules and with 2 of them being babies...
it just makes it hard to go away often.
She helps my brothers families with their kids and has a close friend whose husband is going through chemo that she helps with appointments and daily living. She is a Sunday school teacher, a nursery coordinator at church and cleans the church.



she was always the fun mom... she wasn't afraid of what other people thought. She would skip through at store singing ABC's with the kids, she would whistle (you know, that LOUD, put your fingers in your mouth, LOUD whistle) across a room to get your attention, she played in the mud puddles with Trevor, RIGHT after his bath....she jumped in the pool with Zachary because he wanted her to get in...with dress clothes on (and I'm SURE it was dry clean clothes!)

We sometimes doubt what we do as parents. We often think that things we DID or DID NOT do made things happen later. We doubt our parenting, rules, too strict, not strict enough.... but as i have told her. She did a great job. at the time, i thought she was SO tough. mean a lot of the times, but now that i have children, i realize that she was trying to teach me. Teach me that it's not always easy being a parent. She was teaching me how to be a parent.

I KNOW i don't always do or say the best things, but my children, just as i did, know they are loved and I'm doing the best i can and know how!

my brothers and i have not always made the best decisions in life, but I know that the good things we have done, and learned in life were because our mom was our rock. She taught us, then, let us make our own decisions. we all have had our times that she could have said, 'i TOLD YOU SO!', but she didn't. she was there when we fell, and helped us get up. I know i have thought many a times, 'if i woulda just listened to mom, i would have never had that heartache!'

I LOVE YOU MOM

Thank you for teaching me to be the best i can be and that if i put my mind to it i CAN BE ANYTHING and DO ANYTHING I WANT TO!

i have a funny reason that made me want to post about my mom.

I was mopping the other day and usually i push the chairs from one side of the room, mop that side, then push the chairs to the other.

That day, i didn't. I put the chairs upside down on the counter.

that reminded me of my mom.

why?

Because that's the way MOM did it!

see, my mom worked when we were at home.

On Saturdays, we cleaned. we couldn't go anywhere, have anyone over, do anything else until the house was cleaned. I can so remember it being an all day thing.

One day, i don't remember how it started, but i can remember mom and i (not sure who was chasing who) chasing each other around the house, out in the yard, then down the road to a house 2 or 3 down with WINDEX bottles squirting each other, cracking up laughing!

that, made me laugh and actually ENJOY mopping my house...which i normally HATE to do! ;-)

What is a fun/great memory of you and your mom?