Mom

This is my beautiful mother. (and my amazing father)

Yesterday was her 53rd birthday.

She is my best friend.

Each week over the course of the past year, I came up with one memory of her from my childhood, one for each year of her life of 52 years. I delivered them via email once a week. It has been amazing to me to think of her almost every day, drumming up old memories, even laughing at myself.

One of the memories I wrote down for her:

"Do you remember the first time you caught me shaving? Or should I say, do you remember the time you caught me shaving for the first time? I remember clearly. For trying to be sneaky, I failed on every level. I took the necessary equipment in to my room, spread out a large towel and began my journey into womanhood by experimenting with a razor for the first time. I even remember what sparked it.

5th grade, I was sitting on the parallel bars out in the Elementary School field for recess and Tammy Siemers was talking about how she shaved her legs and arms. For the first time in my life, I decided I needed to start shaving to keep up with the in-crowd so that very night I took it upon myself to rid as much hair off my arms and legs as possible.

So, back to the story. I was already shaving when you walked in. I was a “deer in the headlights” with my little cup of water, bar of soap and razor when you said with sadness in your voice, “Ohhhh, I thought I would be the one to teach you how to do this,” and then you walked out and closed the door behind you. I wonder if I will feel the same way with my daughter or if I would be happy to find her figuring it out on her own. Although, Eden has already tried that on the bridge of her nose and she’s only 6. It wasn’t pretty.

I am happy to report that I still use a bar of soap to lather up, I rarely nick myself and no, I do not shave my arms anymore."

Yesterday I delivered the final 52nd memory with a list of 52 things I know about her.

A few of my favorites are:

1. She craves carbonation when she is dehydrated.
2. Learning about and visiting lighthouses is a favorite past time.
3. I don’t think she could ever resist a thrift store even if she had to eat a bushel of cilantro in order to enter.
4. She dislikes cilantro.
5. She’ll get mad at you if you go to a yard sale without her.
6. She has a hard time finding a dish washing liquid that doesn’t dry out her hands.
7. Her favorite soda is Shasta Diet Grapefruit.
8. Her ears are pierced but she never wears earrings. I didn’t get mine pierced until I was 25.
9. Mom once told me that the wedding ring she wears isn’t necessarily the one she would have picked out but because dad picked it out for her, she loves it.
10. She prays daily, reads her scriptures often and has a real desire to act as Christ would act. I have walked in on her in prayer many times.
11. Speaking of prayer, she says the looooonnnnggggest prayers.
12. She cannot resist French fries or potato chips.
13. She loves the smell of coffee.
14. Her salsa, peach-banana jam, pie crust, caramels, alphabet soup and cinnamon rolls are unrivaled.
15. Her wardrobe consists of calf-length skirts, taper-leg jeans and ¾ sleeve white shirts.

And there you have it. Fun tidbits about my incredible mother, TMI about me and a glance into why she is my rock.

Happy Birthday Mom!