MOM

President Lincoln referred to his mother as "my angel mother". I would say he was exaggerating a bit but then I feel like that is an adequate description of my own mother: without any pretense. She was and is the quintessential mom. She lived for her kids. She was, I believe, as selfless as humanly possible. Her leisure time was spent on us. Her best years were spent on us. Her spare money was spent on us. Even before "purpose in life" was popular; her purpose was us. Her hobby was us.
She never got wrapped up in stuff, shopping, t.v. shows, pets, or political affairs. It seemed to me that she was fully engaged in raising her kids. If she ever resented us or her life in any way, I never picked up on it. It seemed to me that raising us, running a household, and helping her husband brought much joy and satisfaction to her life. The only other thing that she ever devoted herself to outside of her family was and is her relationship with the Lord and His Church.
Mom was born in the mid 1930s in Seco, Kentucky and raised in Wise, Virginia in a place called Adkins Hollow. She was a real coal miners daughter. Her dad who could barely read and write was her first real hero. Though the coalmines, in those days, had a way of wearing a mans body out, her dad still had enough energy to provide plenty of love, guidance and protection to her and her eight other brothers and sisters. Her childhood was of a typical Appalachian account. She had a little more schooling than the average kids of her day. She attended the Hurricane School through sixth grade and finished up at Wise Middle School.
Her first job outside of home was at the Kline Cleaners and Royal Laundry. She worked all week for $18. She has never been accused of being lazy. She has not had a so called "job" most of her adult life and yet if you asked ten people, who know her, to describe her, the words "hard working" would come up ten out of ten times. Mother is not only not afraid of work, she goes looking for it. Even at her age today, as long as she has a purse full of snacks, she could work circles around most thirty-somethings.
She met my dad in 1954 and in 1959 Her, my Dad, and their first child, Raymond moved to Manassas, Virginia. Dad started the family business of plumbing and Mom started the business of Family. Rita and myself came along in the mid 60s and then when Mother was almost 40 she had the twins, Russell and Regina.
As a married couple I know Mom and Dad had their ups and downs, like every other couple, but she was a master at making our lives stable and secure. In fact the word "stable" may be the best word to describe my childhood. For the first eighteen years of my life we lived on the same street, attended the same church, Dad had the same job, and Mom was always at the same place: Home. We even had the same phone number for crying out loud. Dad was busy working for us and Mom was busy working on us. When we got off the right path she would chase us down and drag us back if need be. When we misspoke, she spoke up. When we got out of line, she pushed us back in. She was never a "do as I say and not as I do" kind of woman. She led by example. She went to church every time the doors were open. I've never heard her say a curse word, and I've never seen her act in way that would be unbecoming as a Christian. She laid the spiritual foundation for our entire family and today all five of her kids are following her faith.
Mom, I hope you know how much we love you! And rest assure we know how much you love us.
Thanks for staying with Dad, Thanks for staying at home, and Thanks for staying on us.

Happy Mother's Day