TAKING THANKSGIVING TRIP TO VISIT MAMA

What are you doingThanksgiving?  I'm excited!!  I'm flying to Portland, Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with my mother and  brother . We will be joining my step-brother Bill and sister-in-law Linda for dinner. The day after Thanksgiving we will be celebrating mother's 92nd birthday.  We are so thankful to still have her with us.

My mother is the most special woman in the world to me. She is still very agile and astute. Mother puts me to shame when she gets down on her hands and knees to look inside a cupboard for something she needs.  She has been through a quadruple heart bypass and wears a pacemaker.  She takes all that with a "matter of fact" attitude.  Never complains and still prepares the meals for herself and my brother. I'm so thankful that he lives with her and can watch over her.  She is a woman of remarkable patience and wisdom.  Mother has been widowed twice and still lives in her own home and that's where she intends to stay until God moves her to her heavenly home with him.  Mother is an avid reader and makes weekly trips to the library for a fresh stack of books.  She does have a touch of arthritis and a pinched nerve in her spine that is painful, but she doesn't complain.  She has lost most of her hearing and is helped to hear with the most up to date computerized hearing aids.  We are all so proud of her.

Mother is responsible for bringing me up in the faith.  Many Mother's Day ago I came across this poem, prettily framed, in a little gift store and thought it very appropriate to honor her on Mother's Day.  At that time I was directing choirs in churches, I set the words to the music of "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof.  I was able to visit her that Mother's Day and was always invited to sing in her church.  That Sunday I sang this song to her and the other mothers in the congregation.  The words go like this......

MOTHER

My first thoughts of God

Came to my childish mind,

Through songs you sang to me

So long ago in time.

My first desire to meet

My Father God above

Was inspired by your life 

Of gladness mixed with love.

My first attempt to trust

My Lord and Savior, Christ,

Was due to wells of joy

I saw spring from your life.

Had it not been for you,

Mother,  I often say,

I may have missed the Life

And never found the Way

(Penny Tanksley)

I've always been thankful that God chose this remarkable lady to be my mom.  I just wanted to share about her with my friends and family on Facebook.  As long as she is still healthy and happy, I pray she lives far past the age of 92. 

Mama, I cherish you, appreciate you, admire you, and love you.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

AND

A VERY HAPPY 92ND BIRTHDAY