My Angel Mother

When "us girls" get together, we have a ball! This is me with my mom and my two sisters, Melanie and Jamie. We are posing in our favorite place to eat together, Cracker Barrel in Layton, Utah.

Since my mom's birthday is May 24th, I want to honor her. Happy Birthday, Mom!

When I was a little girl, I used to write notes to my "Angel Mother." It kind of reminds me of Abraham Lincoln, now that I'm older and know about his comment that all he was he owed to his angel mother. But I have always thought mine was an angel. She is very gifted with language. She has written dozens, if not hundreds, of books, and six-going-on-seven have been published. She has an uncanny ability to remember what it was like to be a child, and her books reflect the insights and thoughts that children have about things. Her books are funny and inspiring. My favorite is one that hasn't been published yet: "The Potter and the Fitter Fritter."

Mom contested while we were growing up. One year she won the grand prize in the nation--two new cars! I have a newspaper clipping that shows Melanie and me and mom as she is handed the keys to the cars. She won that by coming up with a winning 25-words-or-less slogan in a Pittsburgh Paint contest. She has also won a trip for two to Hawaii, a $1000 dollar wardrobe (which back then was REALLY something!), a clothes dryer that played "How Dry I Am" when the cycle was completed, another new car, a $1,000 gift certificate to an exclusive Japanese store called "Seibu," and countless other TVs, cash awards, radios, pretty much you name it, she's won it. If you want to get an idea of the kind of thing she did, there's an interesting movie called "The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio," that accurately depicts life as a contester (except for the mean husband in the movie). That was Mom--always coming up with clever words, double meanings, catchy phrases. She was, and still is, the greatest source for coming up with great slogans.

Mom does counted cross stitching that amazes me! I have many of her pieces, and I prize them. She spends thousands of hours, making beautiful stitcheries that will be a marvelous legacy for her family. She gardens, she draws and paints, she is wonderful.

Our little girls were the recipients of many of Mom's creative efforts when they were growing up. Mom made Emilie and Caitlin matching dresses several times. They always looked adorable.

Now that Mom is over 40 years old :), she is still very busy doing fabulous things. Every year I look forward to whatever she has enthusiastically stitched for us. I love it when she calls me up to read me her latest story. My brother John used to always buy Mom books and inscribe them with "To Mom on her 16th Birthday." Well, I don't think we can claim 16 any more, but she is still young at heart. Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!