as inspired by Serenity

Ok, this is my very inadequate attempt to keep up with Serenity. I feel compelled to write this post even though it is midnight and all of my children are sleeping and if I were a sane mother I would be joining them in their slumbering bliss.

I started blogging because I like to tell stories. I am an outgoing person and I like to know someone hears me. And gets me. I love looking back and remembering feelings and memories that I probably would have forgotten had I not commemorated those experiences through my blog. And I use to hate it when I would get around to scrapbooking a birthday party from two years ago and I would struggle to know what to write about it. That is why I started blogging. I have never thought that I was a writer or really had serious aspirations to be published or anything. This is like my family's journal to me.

My mom, on the other hand, is a writer. She has been published. I will make sure all of you get the chance to read her poem, "Love Poem to my Farmer" that was published in Woman's Day magazine. She has written creative stories and autobiographical stories and poems and research papers and speeches that she has delivered at graduation ceremonies before hundreds of people. She loves writing. And reading. I mean, you realize she is an English teacher, right?

She believes everyone would love to read if only they had the right book. She read the Little House on the Prarie series, in its entirety, to us on our porch swing every summer. And she took us to the library often. She is the reason I love to read. She made sure I had the right books.

She stayed home with my brother and sister and I until I was in junior high and then she went to college. Where she earned A after A after A after A. She graduated from college the same year I graduated from high school. She put her family first and then embarked on her career. I have always admired her for that. On our birthdays she made and decorated our cakes and prepared our favorite meals. She took us to the park. She rocked us when we were sick. She helped make our Valentine's Day boxes and our Halloween costumes and hid our Easter baskets. She took us to visit our grandparents. I can still picture her sitting in her car by the school, reading a book, waiting to pick us up from school or practice.

She can find good in any situation. And she can break into song in almost any situation. If a song will not do it, she always seems to know the right words to say to make someone feel better. She and my dad hold hands when they walk to the car from a ball game. She pays attention to her grandchildrens' interests and tries to encourage them to pursue those things. She knows how to be supportive and encouraging long after hanging up her pom poms. She consistently spends time with her dad. She knows how to bring out the best in those around her simply by being her best. I guess I am saying she is pretty impressive. And she is my mom. And now she has her own blog. I would like to invite you to visit Country Confessions. Check in often. I am sure she will have a lot to say. I had to get it from someone, right?