EXTRAORDINARY MOM - PAY IT FORWARD

EXTRAORDINARY MOMS

Mother's Day arrives this weekend, and for many it's a Happy Mother's Day, BUT for many Extraordinary Moms as I'd like to call them, that's not so.

MY blog is dedicated to all Moms with a special sensitivity to:

 Extraordinary Moms

First let's celebrate and wish all the beautiful Moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!  You were gifted with life to care for and nurture and deserve to be lifted up this weekend and celebrated.  Your family and even friends will give you cards, gifts and flowers to show how much you are loved and appreciated.  It's a wonderful way of honoring Mothers and it makes Mothers know that the care and love/nurturing they did and still do for their family is all worth it to have your children love on you, even for only a weekend, or a day.

I am a Mom, 5 children counting my soninlaw and daughterinlaw, and I am blessed.  I have a very introspective side to me, one that, if you've read my past blogs, observes the world as it is and analyzes much of the time to try to understand more about life and myself.  I've been in that mode this week as I consider Mothers/Moms who are less fortunate this Mother's Day.  So who are they?  They are:

 EXTRAORDINARY MOMS

• Mothers who have lost their children
• Mothers whose children are serving our country and unable to be with them at this time
• Women that desire to be a Mother and are struggling with infertility
• Mothers whose children are not in touch
• Children who have lost their Mothers no matter the age 
• AND Woman that cross multiple categories above.

 I can't imagine the pain these women must be going through.  To watch as the world celebrates Mothers has got to be a bittersweet time for them.  If they have their own Mothers it may help, if they have other children it may help but mostly I believe these are silent sufferers with a huge void in their lives. I can only imagine they do the best they can and yearly pick up their bootstraps and get through the celebrations, from meals to gifts to posts they read on social networks and the like.  It must be so hard to survive your child, to live through the anxieties of having your child serve our nation, though for a great cause and with honor, 1/2 way around the world on Mother's Day, to live day to day not knowing when or even if they might be able to give life to another in birth, to not be in touch with your child, or women that cross any of these categories in more than one way.  My heart aches for them all.

I do know the pain of losing your Mom, and at a young age.  The things you wished you never said, wanted to say, shared together, and to say I love you before they're gone.  The remorse that burdens your heart for the loss of your mom at any age is great.

So to all Moms today, be honored, relish the love and take it all in, you deserve it! Then, remember the less fortunate as well.  If you know someone less fortunate, do something to show your love to them too.  They need it more than you know, and it may not be met with the appreciation that you think you should get for reaching out to them, but believe you made a difference in their lives.  Their healing, their wishes, their dreams have not yet come, so embrace them and love them where they're at.  Be blessed and be a blessing by Paying it Forward!  YOU too are an:

EXTRAORDINARY MOM

It's Just Me Val, Ciao'!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

A MOM'S JOB IS A BIG ONE

A Mom is a nurturer, encourager, cheerleader, graceful disciplinarian, nurse, hugger, prayer warrior, chief cook and bottle washer, house cleaner, tailor and seamstress, spiritual advisor, school transport, class mom, homework helper, homework police, shopper, and on top of all of this, move with uninterrupted urgency to help in a time of need, "the call", PLUS a wife!

Overwhelming to me and can't think of anyone one woman that has filled all of the shoes consistently without blips of hiccups.

Mom: No matter what life handed you, I always knew you were there for me, loved me, and did the very best you could do.  Life wasn't kind to you.  While some are able to overcome and stand up along with fly high, not always is everyone able to do that, and that doesn't take anything away from you being a loving Mom, and most of all, MY Mom!

You were a great grandma, Noni, Aunt and friend to many, too!

Today, July 21st you would have been 83 years old.  I honor you today and know that you are in the best place anyone could be, in the arms of Jesus.  I look forward to the day I can share that place with you.  I love you and miss you Mom!  

Her favorite soundtrack title song: Somewhere in Time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkKue_MEnkk&feature=youtu.be

Love,

Val

Father's Day From a Daughter's Perspective

They say that a Father is the connection between a child and their view of an Eternal Father.  For a Daughter, that relationship in life is core and key to their 'formation' of self esteem and love acceptance for who they are as a person.

Daughters with one healthy dad, lovingly titled with "Father",  in life are blessed to have experienced a Father who faithfully is the head of their family, and nurtures a relationship with unconditional love, adoration and admiration, to the point of inheritly becoming her Prince. To his daughter he is viewed as:  her provider, her encourager, her support, her warrior, her admirer, her Prince, and her conqueror All these titles because after all in her eyes, her Dad can do no wrong in her view, he can move the biggest mountain in her life making anything happen, and he will be there for her no matter what to love and cherish.  He is her Dad!

Daughters who have experienced this Dad but lost him too early in life, either through death or divorce, still have this view, but it runs the course of void as the absence in her life reforms her self image.

Daughters with an absent Dad in life many times feel the pain of void and results of that can be very serious in the forming of their self image, and their view of an Eternal Father, that can affect a healthy love acceptance of themselves in general. 

Sometimes life gives you multiple Dads, through remarriage.  Some of those relationships are very much a mirror image of a Father, embracing you in life as their own, some are not able to do that, and some recover in life and pick up the pieces to do the best they can filling some of the void.

In all of these cases Daughters are formed and either have Great, Good, Bad, or no experience with the blessings of a Father.

I was blessed to have had two Fathers:

• One Father was my biological Dad that was my Prince through his life but absent early on due to divorce, and now is in Heaven.
• My other Father is my Stepdad, who embraced me before I embraced him and once I did, he loved me unconditionally and still does.  He filled all the roles of a 'Dad' faithfully giving him the right to that special title 'Father' as well.

So for me this Father's Day celebrates -

Two wonderful Fathers and One very special FatherinLaw.

To my Dads - Thank you for being a Father and giving the best you had in life to and for me, sharing your life with me, and making me feel as if I had purpose and love acceptance in this crazy thing called 'Life'   This is your day!

I love you all very much!

Your Daughter and DaughterinLaw

Val

Love For A Lifetime

Love For A Lifetime

   A wave crashing against the shore as it moves on its way

A beautiful bird swooping down for its prey

A stunning rendition of a musical chorus

A single star glimmering above and before us

A quiet silent night

A flock taking flight

The energy of horses leaving the gate

The gift at the end of a very long wait

A wedding march

A baby born

The chiming of midnight and then Christmas Morn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are a few of my favorite things

Things that mean so much more sharing them with you by my side

I do cross my heart and promise to always and forever love only YOU!

Happy Anniversary!