Happy Mother's Day : Lessons Of A Mother"

Every mother has lessons for their children. These lessons go beyond washing behind your ears, saying thank you and please and sitting up straight. A true mother instills lessons of life in their children without the children even knowing it. I look back at my mother and I could easily zone in on the lessons that I've learned.

She taught me strength through living. Never to stop walking forward. She was a true believer in the fact that no matter how hard things get, they will so enough get better. I learned this after my father died. My mom tried her best to pull together the pieces of a broken family. I remember thinking it looked like a juggling act. I remember being so afraid on the inside but I also knew she would figure things out. She had to swallow her pride more than once to keep things going but she never showed us that she was worried. There was always a smile on her face for us. I look back and now I could understand that inside she must have been so frightened and tired and knowing her she must have figured that showing these emotions would get her no where.

She taught us to find the humor in the worst of times. I was blessed with a mother with a terrific sense of humor. Even in her last days, laying in bed sick, she still made us laugh. She always had a good story to tell. From growing up in Maine to being the first of her friends to "wear pants" out in public. I could sit and listen and laugh with her for hours.

My mother had a huge heart and opened it up toward everyone. But that heart was something you didn't take advantage of because behind it was a very strong willed woman who didn't tolerate being taking advantage of.

Our lives in the Clark house was nothing short of a soap opera. It was something new every day, From the good to the bad she showed us unconditional love. My siblings and I (there were nine of us) put her through the ringer more than a few times and no matter what, she never stopped loving us.

I find myself using these lessons in my life. I look at them as more then lessons but as gifts from a woman I knew loved me and my brothers and sisters very much. To ignore or forget these gifts would be nothing short of a disgrace to the very person who gave them to us through love.
I'm so thankful for her and love and miss her so much. So here's to you mom.
"Happy Mother's Day".