For Mom

Yes, yes I know, I'm early. But I'm leaving for five wonderful funfilled days without my husband in Calgary(I'm Freee!). So I might not be able to have time to post (I know, you guys will all be heartbroken)... or I might be posting constantly because Marie will be at work all day so gaaaa! the boredom. Or not. Who knows.

Anyway.

For my mom, who spent her whole life being the mom. Even when she lived at home she was the cinderella, cleaning the house and making dinner and having a curfew of 10pm every night(which was earlier than your younger sisters).

Then she met my dad (on a blind date), they dated for only a few months before they got married and shortly thereafter(more than nine months later, so no she wasn't pregnant then) she had my sister. At 22 years old. Then two years after that, they bought a towing business. My mom answered the phone 24 hours a day.

AND she was pregnant with me at the time too. Then I arrived, and she managed a baby, a two year old and a 24 hour business(and dad).

Then a little under two years later she had my little brother Sean. Prematurely(10 weeks early), and he almost died and so did she. But they both pulled through and as soon as she was out of the hospital she was back to work. Answering phones 24 hours a day, with three kids under the age of 5. With my dad gone alot in the truck working to support us.

And then the inevitable happened and she got pregnant with my youngest brother Mitchell (also 2 years later). She did this all with little to no outside support from anyone. All her family lived in BC, and we were the forgotten ones that almost nobody ever came to visit. Which was okay by us. Mostly.Her escapes from this came once a month when it was time for grocery shopping. And by escape I mean she took 4 unruly kids with her, for a torturous afternoon of hell in public.(BTW for those of you who don't know this, a family of 6 goes through 4 shopping carts of food in a month)(Safeway used to give out Gold Medal shopper cakes to her for free because we spent so much) People still ask her how she managed it. ("I used to see you out with those kids and wonder how you made it through that sane")

They finally bought an answering service when I was around 10 years old. So for the first time in over 10 years, she was not tied to the phone for 24 hours a day. She was FREEEEE!!!

Well sort of anyway. She still worked 9 hours a day at the shop answering the phone for our business and about 10 more businesses too.

How she managed to do all that and juggle ballet, my gymnastics, Marie's figure skating (and all that that entailed), baseball for everyone but me(the ball scared me), and everything Sean and Mitch did to cause all the trouble they did, the books for Vista Towing and all the cooking and cleaning and also the wonderful baking you did all the time, I will NEVER be able to figure out. God knows we were not much help.

So for everything you did for us, everything you gave up so we could have everything you never had, Thank you. I know that isn't enough, and it will never suffice even if I were to say it to you every day for the rest of my life, Thank you mom. Everything we are and everything we accomplish, we owe to you. Without you, I don't know what I would do. I wouldn't even be half the person I am now if it weren't for you. It is so hard to be so far away, but you are always in my thoughts and I miss you more and more every day.

I hope that when I do have kids, I can be even half the mother you were to us. You are my hero. And I love you.

Love always, your Birdie.

(PS Dad may have helped somewhere along the way too, so he also gets credit, but this is for you)