Treasures

Every time I go to visit Mom and Dad I am sent home with some sort of "treasure" what that actually means is Mom wants stuff out of her house, but can't bring herself to throw anything away...so it comes home with me! Sometimes the treasures don't even leave my car and go straight to the donation bin...shhhh...but every now and then something comes along that I love. A sweet book, craft stuff for my classroom, random pots/pans/bowls, a beautiful pink 3 tier candy dish thing that belonged to my Great Grandmother(now that's a treasure!!) Last weekend I came home with a bag of "goodies," as I pulled things out I came across a puzzle box...now if you know me you know that this girl does not do puzzles...at all. Don't be giving me puzzles or plants... if you know, you know. This puzzle box had something written on it...and when I saw it it almost took my breath away. That wasn't just anyones handwriting...that was my Granny's writing. "Dress I wore to Charis's wedding" was scrawled across the top of the box...I could picture the dress before I even opened the box. A chartreuse colored sheath dress with a short sleeve jacket. I opened the box and carefully took the dress out, and immediately brought it to my face...as if maybe that box had preserved some of her smell. My wedding day was one of the best days of my life, outshined only by the births of our children. We chose to have our wedding at my grandparents house. We (really they) worked for a year getting everything ready. My grandparents were so excited that I chose to have my special day on their property ... but it also stressed my Granny out just a bit. She needed me to have a "plan B" because "What if it rains, Charis!?" to which I told her plan B was an umbrella, and rain boots, because there were two things I was sure about ... who I was marrying, and where I was getting married...nothing else mattered to me. The day before the wedding she informed me, that she did in fact reserve her church..."just in case" ..."Oh Granny," I giggled, "I'm getting married right here." so... they (my family) started praying...there was a chance for rain, and I guess they didn't want to get wet...becuase I really didn't care! The day turned out to be gorgeous, complete with butterflies flittering around, or so I'm told...I don't remember the specifics, just that it was the most perfect day, because I was with the one I loved, surrounded by friends and family, at my most favorite place in all the world...Granny and Grendaddys. I got off track a bit (that happens pretty often) back to the dress. I never realized the significance of that color until yesterday. I love Fiesta dishes (Granny did too) and for my registry those are the dishes I asked for...I still use those dishes 23 years later. One of my most favorite colors in those dishes was the lime green/chartreuse color...that of course was discontiued at that time. Granny liked that color too, and kept her eye out to find me some. I don't know if she thought about that when choosing her dress, but when I realized that today it meant something to me. More than that though, I realized how special that day had to have been to her...special enough to put that dress in a box, label it, and save it... I never knew that I would want that dress, but what a treasure it is!!

The Mom

I don't know what possessed me, but I pulled up the old blog, and thought...it might be weird... but I think I want to start up again. When pulling it up I came across an old draft that I never published...apparently this isn't the first time I thought I would start this up again! This post still rings true today...although much has changed, and my children (we added one, that's her story though...and a story for another day) are all older. I still get to parent Seely, but the days of "parenting" the girls are pretty much over. We've reached the age where we get to be friends...and as much as I miss the days when they were younger, this age is pretty fun too! Here's the draft from years ago (and the piece of paper in question is still one of my treasured possessions) Who knows, maybe 2026 is my year to start writing again...if anyone in blog land is reading this,don't hold your breath...but maybe check back, because...who knows! ***************************** Written in 2020************ It's been years since I have written...and I could try and explain or catch the blog up but...I'm not, at least not today. So... on the side of my fridge hangs a picture, and it is one of my most favorite things ever. I am not sure which kid colored it for me, or even when the act of vandalism took place. At one time this picture said "Happy Mother's Day To the Best Mom"...a few years ago I was doing something and happened to notice this picture hanging on the fridge. What caught my eye was the black mark in the middle of this colorful picture, so I took a closer look. What I found was that I was no longer the best....I was now just "The Mom." Now, for some this may have hurt their feelings, maybe made them sad... but for me... oh man I laughed... and I laughed hard. Who did I make so mad that they went out of their way to find a black crayon and deface this picture! That picture still hangs on the side of my fridge and everytime I notice it I still chuckle. Over the years though it has come to mean something more. First... I'm not meant to be my kids friend, sure I want them to be able to come to me, I want them to know that I'll always be here for them, but I'm not their friend, I'm their parent... the authority figure...and they aren't always going to like the decisions I make ... sometimes they are going to dislike them so much that they will dislike me... and I will become just "the mom." Two: I'm not the best mom, shoot, somedays I'm barely "the mom," and you know what, thats ok. i want my kids to know that we mess up, we make mistakes, and that's ok...what matters is that we keep trying, we dont give up... even if we aren't the best we are still important, we are still somebody to someone...even if its just "the mom."