I know you'll forgive a little sentimentality every once in awhile, right?
Today is my mom's birthday. You might be wondering, what's with the candy hearts?
Well, once upon a time, when I was in Kindergarten - right before the end of the day Valentine's Day party, my parents came to pick my sister and I up at school and whisked us away to West Virginia. At the time, my mother was learning to make stained glass windows, and we were going to tour the glass factories there.
Once we were on the road, my mother gave each of us a box filled with conversation hearts and a box of Barbie doll clothes she sewed herself. My mother will tell you she isn't creative, but she is certainly resourceful and knowledgeable about how to keep a 5- and a 9-year old quiet on a long car ride.
It only occurred to me years later that the trip was probably a birthday gift for my mom, and not, as I suspected, a Valentine's treat for my sister and I; but to this day, each Valentine's day when I see conversation hearts, I think of my mom and the doll clothes she made for me.
So for you, Mom, maker of handmade doll clothes, maker of the best fluffy pancakes with sour cherry sauce, inventor of car games extraordinaire (our whole family once traveled from Ohio to Colorado in a Volkswagen Rabbit, in August, without air conditioning), the patient woman who taught this strong-willed wild child how to sew and cook, and who tried to teach me patience, and to be nice (I'm still trying). Who forced me to learn how to read when I couldn't be bothered, who tried to teach me not to roll my eyes when I thought everyone was more stupid then me (again, still trying to learn), who always made sure I got the over-easy egg without the broken yolk, whose organization I will always strive to achieve, and who always believes in me no matter what,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
with love,
Lisa
ps - don't worry folks, I'll have one for Dad, too.
