Being a Mother

Being a mother is a mixed bag. Sometimes you think you've screwed things up horribly and you wonder where it all went wrong...and then one of your kids writes this to you and you sit there crying thinking--maybe I didn't do so badly after all:

1. She raised 5 kids and still maintains (most of) her sanity.

2. She kept incredibly detailed baby books and a diary of our childhood - so we could look back and see how much we threatened her sanity.

3. She encouraged me to throw pies at other people at a young age.

4. She made bread with her own two hands.

5. She encouraged us to get involved in theatre - and didn't worry if we stayed out late doing it.

6. She came to almost every performance of every little thing I ever did. She even flew across the country to do that, more than once.

7. She let me wear what I wanted to wear, when I needed that independence.

8. IBM selectric: the sound of my childhood.

9. She took in a huge number of foreign exchange students, and that had a tremendous impact on my view of the world - having dear friends all over the world makes it a smaller place.

10. She and my dad took us camping in remote places many parents would be afraid to take their children. And we loved it.

11. She takes pictures of everything, so I have a fantastic archive of my whole life.

12. She always remembers to bring the clam dip.

13. She made me a chicken pox birthday cake when I was five and had chicken pox on my birthday.

14. She threw a lot of amazing Christmas dinner parties for upwards of 20 people.

15. She made me a dolphin costume and a dress I loved, even though she claims not to know how to sew.

16. She made me learn how to type, a skill that is more valuable to me than I ever imagined it would be.

17. She and my dad took me to see plays and concerts from a very young age - giving me a love of live performance that continues to this day.

18. She bought me a clarinet for my 18th birthday, and a flute for christmas.

19. She paid for twelve years of piano lessons.

20. She encouraged me to study theatre in college, and never cared if I made money doing it.

21. She went to more Lawsuit concerts than just about anybody - and never felt awkward in a bar full of drunk college kids.

22. She trusted me to make good decisions in my young adult life.

23. She can drop musical theatre quotes into any conversation.

24. She flew across the country to surprise me on my 40th birthday.

25. She volunteers for all kinds of things, and gives her time to people most people would rather ignore.

26. She has marched in the gay pride parade.

27. She donates blood on a regular basis.

28. She has bottle fed at least a hundred orphan puppies.

29. One of those puppies now weighs 60 pounds and is sleeping at my feet right now - thanks mom!

30. She sends me photo messages almost every day.

31. She mastered the internet long before most of us were even paying attention.

32. She has written a daily essay about herself and posted it online almost every day for the last eleven years.

33. She has a bazillion Facebook friends - and I bet they're all really her friends.

34. She feels very strongly about a lot of political issues - and is never afraid to say what she really thinks, out loud, in public. And she's never afraid to make people angry.

35. She's reviewed about a million plays - and still finds something intelligent and constructive to say about every one, even when she thinks she's out of her element.

36. She calls her mother way more often than I call mine. She puts me to shame.

37. She reads more books than seems humanly possible.

38. She's a really good writer.

39. She's traveled all over the world.

40. She kept up on our grueling walking tour of France and Italy, even when she wanted to give up. And then she came home and started planning her next trip.

41. She's famous in Davis.

42. She cares. And she listens.

43. She sends me little presents, just because.

44. She loves her kids and her grandkid a whole lot.

45. She thought up 45 nice things about me, and that is a really serious task!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Thank you, Jeri