Happiest Day of Mothers

I don't think I often blog about Mother's Day.  It's not a huge deal at our house, and we rarely have any events of significance to mention.  But this year was just a great Mother's Day and I don't want to forget about it.  I thought it was wonderful.

First of all I have to show off the gift I got from the kids...really from the Primary in our ward.  Oh yeah, I serve in the primary, and I was in on the planning so I guess it was a gift from myself.  That's okay, I love it and it turned out much cuter than I expected. This is the opposite result of most crafty things I start so it's worth documenting.

Okay, in the picture it doesn't look that great.  But I just love looking at those smily little faces.  Smiling, not-fighting, not-complaining-about-homework faces.  So happy.

So that was one part of my great Mother's Day.  Another great part was that in the middle of the afternoon I got to do my favorite thing which is to take a long hot bathe with a book and an icy diet coke by my side.  Thank you Troy, that's all the gift I ask for.  Oh yes, and a great massage from the kids.  It was better than you would have expected.

Those things were really great but there is no denying what the very best part of all was, and that was church.  We had the most amazing sacrament meeting.  This is not usually what I say after a Mother's Day meeting.  Usually Mother's Day church involves singing the hymns:

"Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth"....but only if you're a really good mom otherwise everyone is going to be fighting all the time...

and

"There is Beauty All Around"....but only if you're a perfect mother otherwise it's all dirty laundry and piles of dishes....

Extended titles added by me.  Any questions on how I really feel about those two hymns?

We didn't sing either of those Mother's Day classics and I couldn't be more happy about that.  But in all seriousness, we had two of the best talks I have ever heard.  We heard first from a newly married gal who gave a nice talk.  Then a young teenager sang a song and finally spilled the secret that she has the voice of an absolute angel.  So beautiful - a sweet soaring soprano that just gives you chills.  But then we heard from two young fathers who both spoke very candidly about some very tough experiences.  Both are dear friends and I was very touched by their willingness to openly share what Mother's Day really means to them.  First was a man whose mother passed away within days of giving birth to him and his twin brother.  His father shortly thereafter married a woman with four children, making their combined number of children 10.  Then they had five more.  Lotta kids.  And  a lot of hard times to go with this complicated group.  He talked about how he came to love, forgive and fully embrace his step mother as his own mother.  It was very touching, especially to see this normally very stoic and reserved person share his feelings and emotions.  It was profound to hear a talk on the subject of loving and forgiving your imperfect mother on a day normally reserved for touting her perfection.

The next speaker is another dear friend who's first wife, one of the best friends I have ever had, passed away three years ago after battling breast cancer.  He is now remarried to a darling sweet woman whom I also love dearly. There really aren't adequate words to convey his message.  Hearing what he had to say about the women in his life was very tender and brought a different feeling to our meeting.  I'm so grateful these men had the courage to speak honestly about their experiences.  My thoughts and spirits were so lifted and I thank them for that.

I know that's not an especially exciting thing for anyone else to read about but I just didn't want to forget the experience I had this fine Mother's Day.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my mom:

She was holding baby Bitty, so this was a long time ago.  I like to think of her this way with those bright sharp eyes.  Sending love.