Happy Birthday Mother

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world. ~Kate Wiggin



A MOTHER'S LOVE
A Mother's love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .
A very splendid miracle man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.
~Helen Steiner Rice~


Mom on one of our numerous camping expeditions.

There are times when posts are very difficult to write. I am well aware that it is difficult for anyone to spend an inordinate amount of time on any one post. It is hard to consolidate some topics into a limited amount of space.

Today is my Mothers Birthday. Her name is Rachel. I am very proud of my mother. My parents were pioneers in the south where I grew up. At that time my dad was a practicing Presbyterian Minister. They both believed in equality and social change. They were behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before it was an Act. My parents divorced in the mid 1970’s. My mother went back to school and received a degree in social work from Widener University. My eldest brother, Mark, and I had the luxury of a SAHM. My little sister, Laura and brother, Tim grew up with our mother working.


Laura and my Mother dancing.

My Mother never remarried. She is dedicated to her work, family, friends, the democratic committee, and a new church group that she enjoys. I was very happy to hear that she took a group tour to Smith Island recently and enjoyed it very much. She makes a few trips a year to Florida to see one of her good friends who moved there.

She has worked on the Democratic committee for as long as I can remember. I can’t remember a single election that she was not “working the polls”. One of things I remember clearly is standing next to her waiting to hand out the flyers. She could spot right off the bat who was a democrat and who was a republican. She was correct 99% of the time, and it was not the clothes they were wearing. She just knew. I was amazed at this odd talent.

I am sure she is well past retirement age but she continues to work. She cares deeply about her clients and the work that she does. A phone call in the middle of the night to inform her of a death that nobody else cared about including the people who made the call brought my mother to her knees with tears and grief. She has worked well over twenty years caring for mentally disabled elderly people. These people reside in a facility and are not at home. Human rights and justice are very important to my Mom. The people she cares for can’t tell her that they appreciate what she does with words. I went to visit her one day at work. It was then that I realized she was so different from the direct care staff and other people interacting in the lives of these people with severe disabilities. When they saw my mother a brightness came to their eyes and a smile or silly giggle exploded from their mouths. They were truly happy to see her. Isn’t that something? She is dedicated to making their small worlds a good world. She called me this past Sunday and I was shocked to hear she was calling me from work.

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you!

I am not keeping a secret. I can’t splutter out my mothers age because to be totally honest here I do not know myself.

These are some quotes my mother would like.

Age is a number and mine is unlisted.~ Anonymous

Old age is always 15 years older than I am.~ Bernard Baruch

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.~ Robert Frost