“Her children rise up and call her blessed”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31:28‬a

Mom,

Today, we celebrate you! We stand up to remind you how blessed you are among women. As our mom you’ve inspired and impacted our lives in ways too numerous to count.  It’s hard to put it into words how much you mean to us.  You are strong, beautiful –  inside and out, amazing, kind-hearted, and the most selfless person we’ve ever met.

When we look back we see the ways you imparted into our lives. It was not by your words but by your action and character that you taught us how to be women who pursue our passions, work hard and give the very best of us to the things that matter the most.

How did you do it all?  No wait, how DO you do it all.

We like to say you are made from a different mold and God doesn’t make them like you anymore (including us haha).  Your energy level alone is off the charts (and you don’t even drink energy drinks or coffee like we do).  Frequently, you  work all day, come home to make a full dinner and bake some cookies or a cake just for fun and you make it look so easy.

We could never truly appreciated you until we had our own children and saw all the sacrifices and challenges that moms face. You weren’t perfect but you were always PRESENT and that is what truly mattered.

As we start and grow our families, we can’t help but think of how it felt for you to be responsible for all 5 of us. At times it must’ve felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders – the responsibility of raising children, caring for a home, working, cooking, cleaning, getting us to school on time, making sure our school work was done, going on  classroom field trips, providing us stability and so much more. You did it so well and always with a smile.

You are the compass for our lives.  We will always think and go back to “what did mom do or how would mom handle this” and we pray to make the right choices. You are our hero and our role model.

I (Misty) might have been considered an over achieving child (maybe a 1st born thing).  Some of my earliest memories are of you laying bedside and reading us stories from our big blue picture bible.  We never attended church but at a young age you imparted faith and taught us the importance of prayer.  As I got older I even recall you reading the Bible nightly and warning me that some of the stories were not for children.  I can also recall early mornings were you encouraged me to stay home and rest because you felt I worked too hard,  times where I fell asleep studying and you would finish my homework so I wouldn’t worry in the morning, and late night chats to help put my anxious little mind at ease (usually about school). You did so many little things to make sure I had a balanced life and not just a life of studying and karate. You encouraged play, reading and lots of fun – which I will forever be thankful. You never got upset when us kids terrorized the house or made a mistake … like the time I tried to help with the laundry but used bleach instead of laundry detergent (I was only six).  In high school you supported our decision to be on the dance team, you helped with fundraisers and attended our performances, even though you had to work more hours to pay for this activity and had to get rides to events.  I will never forget when you encouraged me not to work while I was in high school, saying, I had a lifetime ahead filled with work and to enjoy being young.  You were so right.  As young women you encouraged us to pursue our passions and supported all of our crazy God given ideas.  When we wanted to go on mission trips half way across the world you always supported us and even let us take your baby.  I am sure you suffered many prayer filled sleepless nights to allow us to walk in God’s calling for our lives.

I (Tisha) was not a bad child, mischievous is probably a better way to explain it.  Possibly a 2nd child thing?  You always let me be a kid and you never made me feel bad about situations I found myself in.  Like the time(s) I broke the same window twice or broke a trophy case. Even when I went through the phase where I ate a loaf of bread a day or when I started changing my clothes 10 times a day.  Then there was the time when I became the crazy cat lady (at seven years old) and adopted all the stray cats in the neighborhood, feeding and naming each and every one of them.  You always let me be a kid no matter how many things I broke or the type of laundry I added to your already busy day.  You didn’t get mad when I let a friend perm my hair even though I was too young to comb my own hair, that was a fun time.  You defended all of us and always found the good in our personality.  I distinctly remember when you got called into a parent teacher conference because I “became a distraction in class”.  I was referred to as the “jack-in-the-box” because I could not stay in my seat.  You sat there and told the teacher I was a social butterfly and that you didn’t see anything wrong with me having a lot of friends.  You didn’t make me feel bad about my personality and always saw the good in us, helping us bloom in those areas. Then there was the time I I got my  first A in school, you were so proud that you bought me a diamond ring to encourage the behavior. Misty was not happy about that since she frequently got As (I’m pretty sure this story still upsets her).  Even now, after having my babies, you support me so much in the day to day.  Helping me clean, helping make dinner – never judging our parenting decisions.  If you disagree we never know about it.  Its like you alway say, never talk about people kids or spouses because they will forgive them but they won’t forget what you said.

I (Misha) am the youngest of the bunch.  I will forever be grateful for all you did for me growing up.  You raised me as a single parent since I was in 2nd grade, it was 10 years where you acted as my mom and dad. I never saw you tired, without hope or mention giving-up.  Growing up I went through some crazy phases and you encouraged them all.  When I was obsessed with my monkey collection you helped decorate my room because I wanted all of my monkeys hanging up from the ceiling. You encouraged my drawing phase and bought me art supplies. You encouraged me when I was in softball and went to all my games even though I was terrible. You supported me when I took dance and went to my performance even though I was terrible at that as well. You didn’t judge me for taking Chinese my junior year instead of Spanish because I was horrible at Spanish. You supported me in everything I did – photography, drama,  volunteering at an after school program or at church , and working with the kids. When I was a teacher at the church I put a lot of time and money into bettering the class, printing out the lessons and crafts. You didn’t judge me for it instead you were right there beside me sacrificing your time and your money to help my vision come true. You’ve always been my biggest supporter, my biggest fan and you are always proud of me. No matter what I did or how long it lasted you were always there supporting, encouraging and  you were so understanding when I didn’t want to continue on with it. You are always putting us first and you always want to see us happy.

Mom, you always managed to encourage and support each and every one of us in the best way we needed it.

At times we can imagine how difficult things must’ve gotten for you but you never let us know the gravity of anything going on around us. We always felt safe, wanted, special and important.  You still go above and beyond for all of your children.   Your zeal for life, love and family is now being passed on to your grandchildren and it is so awesome to experience.

Thank you for always putting your family first. For always teaching us and guiding us to be the best we could be.  Today we celebrate you not only because it’s your birthday, but because you truly deserve the world.

And as you turn 61 this year, we do not see you slowing down or any of this changing.

We came together to say THANK YOU for being such a blessing to us and we love you. We look forward to making many wonderful memories with you as a grandma.

Love,

Misty, Tisha and Misha