Super Mom!

So, it's Women's History Month, and for bloggers, that means writing one post a week about the women who have shaped us.

Well, I have to start with the woman in whom I was actually shaped...the most awkward way ever of saying: MOMMY!

Mama, you should go get the kleenex now, if you're not already crying :). I love you bunches!

Okay, so my mother. This woman wanted me SO much that she wrote poetry to me before I was ever conceived. This woman endured at least two miscarriages and then a rough 7-month (that's not normal, folks) pregnancy to have me. She loved me from the time she realized that women are the ones who reproduce. She loved me from the time her own mother was treating her so badly that she (my mother) started keeping note in her journal of all of the things she would NEVER do to her own daughter.

My mother has been raising me in her mind since before she ever even had a boyfriend.

My mother has taught me from moment one to fight against injustice. She has worked as a social worker, a teacher and a probation officer, amongh other things. Please note that these are jobs that are not exactly sunshine and roses. She works, and she works hard to make a difference in the world. She (and my father, too) is the reason I want to make an impact, want to make change in the world.

My mother fights against what's wrong, is never afraid to state her opinion, is ballsy, loud and absolutely fabulous. She is quiet, too. She has plenty of tears to shed. She got dealt one of the suckier cards of health and physical well-being I've ever encountered. From mysterious holes in her hips to ovarian cysts to what essentialy amounts to a brain tumor before she was 21, my mother has seen much of the worst life has to offer.

And some of the best.

She has a child (me!). She is married to the love her life (and he to his). She has a home. She has a strong faith in God.

She proves to me over and over again that God gives us exactly what we need, even if we fight Him kicking and screaming all the way.

How has my mother shaped me, exactly?

*I fight for what is right, no matter what the cost
*I want to be the kind of mother she is, rather than the kind of mother she isn't
*I am independent while still completely reliant on the attention of others (this can be a mixed blessing)
*I like to think I am a strong woman who can withstand just about anything, but doing it with dignity and grace will come with time
*I love books and music and being happy in my own skin
*I can take the good from my sometimes confusing past and make it into something valuable
*She has taught me, by marrying and loving my father, what to look for in a good man and how to never settle for anything less
*She has taught me the value of a good meal
*She has taught me that there is NOTHING like homemade but that sometimes we all need a dinner out
*Bread and cheese are a perfectly acceptable way to nourish myself
*Hugs are as necessary as breathing
*Receiving the Holy Eucharist will recharge and refresh my soul

...I can't say enough about Mommy. I think she might very well get TWO postings all about her!