Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Judge, the Lawyer, the Intellectual, the Photographer, the Artist, the Gardner, the Philosopher but most importantly, My Mother.

Me & my mom about 30 years ago.

My mother is the one woman I look up to most in this world. It's true. She's a huge role model to me, and if I could turn out to be half the woman she is, then that would make me happy.

She's taught me so much throughout my life, that she has helped mold me into the person I am today...as well as shown me the person I want to continue to work to BE.

When I was little, growing up on our ranch, she took us (me, my little sister and our four older half-siblings, her stepkids) on hikes into the woods. She taught us the names of every tree, flower and bush...and even showed us the edible ones. I wish I'd listened closer.

She encouraged creativity, doing crafts with us at home, making God's Eyes and collages. I wish I had her artistic ability. It inspired me to try to do crafts with my kids, and they love my attempts.

She kept a steady supply of books on our bookshelves and boosted my love of reading. She read to us and encouraged knowledge and learning. She went back to school and finished two undergraduate degrees and a law degree with children at home.

We learned to be mischievious from her...from all the little pranks she pulled around the house; from the styrofoam head in the toilets to the "I'm not your mother, an alien has taken over my body" events. When she toilet-papered her friend's house who was turning 30, we went along and learned the art of papering.

She gave me my first camera, an Olympus 35mm, and passed on her love of photography. She also gave me my most recent digital camera and Photoshop Elements so that I could continue my love of photography. She taught me to preserve my family's memories through pictures and to put them albums right away, so we could enjoy and relive our happy times through them.

She shared her love of animals with me. My life is not complete with an animal in my life. We had cats, dogs, cattle, pigs, chickens, donkeys, ducks, horses, peacocks and rabbits on our ranch. She rode horses growing up, helped out at her dad's vet clinic as a child. We always had pets growing up and she even talked me into getting a pot belly pig in high school when I wanted a puppy, and the pig, Kory, ended up being one of the best pets I've ever had.

I learned that I should reach for the stars, and that I could do anything I put my mind to from her. I haven't done it yet, but I know that potential is inside me somewhere because she put it there. She taught me it's never too late to do something with my life.

Best of all, she is now teaching MY children these things, and for that, I am thrilled beyond belief. They will benefit from knowing her and her knowledge, just like I did, and I could honestly not ask for more.

I'm a little worried about what my kids are learning from me..."Mama, is that going on the blog?" and "Mama, do NOT put that on the blog!" or "Mama, you HAVE to put THAT on the blog." lol

I love my mom. She's my best friend, my mentor, my confidant, my idol, and one of the most amazing people I know. I truly treasure her and the relationship we have.

Thanks, Mom, for all you do and all that you are. Always.



26 comments:

Valarie Lea said...

That is awesome. Your mother sounds great!!! I hope you win!! I will go vote for you on Thursday!!

Rhea said...

Aww. thanks, Valarie!!

Anonymous said...

What a sweet tribute to your Mom!! :-)

Irene said...

Thank was a wonderful post. What a special person your Mom is. She looks so young in those pictures at the top. How old was she when she had you? Maybe it's because my Mom was 39 when she had me and I was 35 when I had my daughter (who turns 24 today - yikes!).

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

What an amazing post. I wish I could have thought of some of those eloquent things to say about my mom! Darcy did my blog...she's amazing...and I will vote for you on Thursday!!

CrystalChick said...

Terrific tribute to your Mom. I'm sure she's very happy and proud you are her daughter too!
I miss my Mom. She passed 12 years ago but I still think of her a whole lot.

Rhea said...

April - Thanks! And, thanks for stopping by.

Irene - My mom was 20 when she had me...and I was 19 when I had my first child.

Kat - Thanks! I first noticed Darcy from your blog, then saw she'd done Susan's and Valarie Lea's. She does amazing work. I really hope I win! Thanks for offering to vote for me! I'll take it!!

Crystal Chick - Thanks! I hope she's proud of me, but I am still a work in progress, you know? I'm sorry about your mom. It has to be so hard to lose a parent. I can't imagine.

Cannon said...

You're mom must be horrified that you wrote such a nice post about her. :-) Well done and I love the pictures. That was such a groovy idea.

Unknown said...

WHat a wonderful tribute and your mom was a baby when she had you! Lovely happy piccie. Mom's day in the Uk is on March so I enjoyed reading your post :-)

Anonymous said...

beautiful post. I wish I could say all those things about my mom (she's a fine person, we just never bonded). I hope I change the pattern and my DD can say wonderful things about ME!

tearese said...

awe, great tribute! My mom and I didn't get close till I got married and had kids, now I talk to her several times a week over the phone. She was 25 when she had me (her first child), and I was 27 when I had my first.

Skeller said...

awwwww.... your Mom's gonna love this :-)

Greg said...

I am a New York Times bestselling author working on a new book about mother-daughter relationships and thought you might want to contribute. Please visit my page for details about submitting stories for Mom's Little Angel.

Gregory E. Lang
Author of “Daddy’s Little Girl,” “Why a Daughter Needs a Dad,” “Why a Daughter Needs a Mom” and more.

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

The third photo in the photo strip is simply awesome. I adore it! Thanks for sharing. :)

Hallie

. said...

What a fabulous post Rhea. Mum's really are the best aren't they? I don't know what in the world I would do without mine!

xMx

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Rhea--How cool that you might be able to contribute this to a book! Couple of things I have to tell you - my daughter was bored, so she decided to check out all the blogs I read...and she was reading the interview you did with the boys. And she realized what I might have been going for! Anyway...she was most enamored by Remy's comments on what he was going to be doing in 5 years...so she told Madalyn all about it. Now they have their five year goals as well. Tell Remy we appreciate his help with manners and decorum :-)

Oh...and Darcy did my daughter's blog, too. It's really, really, really cute! (but I'm not biased or anything)

Indy said...

Would your mom like to adopt a nice 36 year old girl from Ohio? She sounds amazing. You are so lucky!

Angie's Spot said...

What a great tribute! I can only hope that my girls will deem me blog-worthy when they're old enough to type. Thankfully, for now, my hubby is the only one who comments about what should or shouldn't make my blog for the day. Ha ha!

Melissa said...

what a wonderful post for your mom. Moms are soooo wonderful.

Rhea said...

Thank you everyone for all your sweet comments!! I really appreciate them!

Kat - That's too funny your daughter was reading all the blogs you do...is she checking up on you?!! lol And, now she knows why you interviewed her. hehe Glad we inspired her!

Catherine said...

Rh�a, no need to tell you your mother is proud of you, the woman you became. I'voted for you, you deserve it. Now you're 50/50, hope'll win.
What an extraordinary visit from Greg! Hope it will open you "doors" in edition world.

Rhea said...

I just wanted to thank everyone again for coming by and commenting and your sweet words!

If you feel like it, head by graphically designing and vote for me so I can win a blog makeover! The link is in the post.

Thanks!!

Andrea said...

I am late on this, but this is a great post. You have a wonderful mom! Mine is great, but yours does lots and lots of wonderful things! You are very lucky, but you know that :).

Wow! A contributing author-you rock!

Andrea said...

Very nice words for you mom! Lovely!

Utter Basketcase said...

*Wipes tear*

This is gorgeous!

My Love is as strong for my mum as yours is for yours too.


Just beautiful! xx

gudnuff said...

Does your mom still practice law? Could you get her to contribute a post here, as a guest blogger, about going to school while raising children? And about the need for sleep while doing it?