What's in a name?

‘Mom’ is one of those little words with lots of meaning: love, dedication, work, fun, support, organization, multi-tasking, counselor, chef, cheerleader, disciplinarian, teacher, triage nurse…the list could be longer, but you get the point.
I’m not a mom yet, but I certainly have a great one. Today is her birthday and, thus, a great opportunity to editorialize a little about her. My mom is so private and modest that she won’t let us tell the server at a restaurant or mention to people at church, or anywhere really, that it’s her birthday. Mom, is it o.k. to blog about it on the internet?
I just have to say that my mom is the epitome of support and dedication to family. She was born to be a mom. It’s her greatest joy and job. She’s had to share that most favorite job all of these years with elementary kids in her employment as a truly dedicated teacher, but never at the expense of her family.
Somehow during all of those growing up years my mom managed to always (and I mean always) make homemade bread and cookies, made sure we sat down to eat for dinner and breakfast as a family every day (including high school seminary days), and kept up with the ‘mom’ things like grocery shopping, yard work, laundry and cleaning. In fact, I have to confess that it wasn’t until college when I saw my roommate making burritos for dinner that I learned you could buy refried beans in a can. My mom always made them!
Little did my mom know when I brought that flier home in second grade about park and rec soccer that saying ‘yes’ to letting me play committed she and my dad to ten years of uniforms, cleats, year round practice, summer camps, tournaments, out of town travel and way too many rainy, miserable games to cheer at. But you know what? She did it and, not just for soccer. I should also mention stints of basketball, swimming, softball, volleyball, and years of piano and dance lessons. She was always there. Even if I was playing at Nevada Union, (and you locals know what kind of a drive that is) she was there.
That’s kind of the theme of my mom, I guess: she’s always there to support and cheer on our family. I see that still as a married grown up. My mom is interested in the details of our lives because she wants to help, offer prayers and support us in any way that she can. What a remarkable example she is.
I could go on, but I don’t want this to ramble too much or sound like a eulogy. More than anything, I’m grateful that today I get to celebrate my mom. I can’t wait to be a mom and be even more like her in so many ways! Happy birthday Mom!