Texan Mosaic

by SHELBY MORGAN//Staff Writer

Mother’s Day is a day out of the year for you to recognize the mothers around you. But for all they do for us, they deserve more than just one day.

I was blessed with one of those moms who would drive 30 minutes to Wal-Mart at 10:30 the night before a project was due just to make sure that we finished it, and that it was perfect. She would iron every piece of clothing my siblings and I wore, and she always made sure that we never did without.

She worked as a helper for my dad, who is a welder, for almost 15 years, which meant long hours in the sun and in the cold. More often than not, it also meant drive-thru dinners. We never knew the difference. After she stopped working with my dad and began working in the school cafeteria, she would pick me and all of my friends up from school with hot, fresh cheese sticks and soft drinks for all of us.

I don’t think I realized how lucky I was to have a mom like her then, when I would gripe at her for dancing in front of my friends and complain when I didn’t get my way. But I definitely thank God for giving me the best mom I could ever ask for.

I’m immensely grateful for all the memories she made sure that we made growing up. She would drive to my school when I was in Kindergarten and drop off my bike, then ride her own bike back to pick me up at the end of the day so that we could ride our bikes home together. She always had random crafts for us to do, such as painting popsicle sticks or finding sea shells to make picture frames out of. These are memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Now that I’m an adult, she is one of my best friends. Anytime that anything happens to me, I immediately pick up the phone to call her and tell her. She doesn’t get annoyed when I call her 12 times in an hour because I’m trying to make chicken fried steak and have no idea what I’m doing. She’s always patient with my brother, sister, and I, and she is always the biggest supporter in our corner, cheering us on at any given time. She’s also the first one to call us out when we’re wrong.

She is constantly encouraging us to not just let life pass us by, but to actually live. Whether that means jumping out of an airplane at 11,000 feet in the air, or returning to school, her response is always, “Do it. One day you’ll be old and won’t have the chance.”

When I had my own son, I finally realized the love that my mom has for us, and the depths that she will go just so that we could always have everything we could need or want. Society paints a picture of moms who have it all together in a Mrs. Clever-esque world with this insane notion that when you become a mom you automatically gain super mom powers. But nobody tells you about the hard stuff, the yucky stuff, the hide yourself in the bathroom for five seconds of silence stuff, the sleepless nights, or the broken hearts that you just can’t fix when you have a kid. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies.

But my mom never let us know when times were tough. If she was having a down day, we didn’t know about it as kids. If she made a promise to us, she always kept her word, no matter how many obstacles she had to jump through or go over to get it done. I pray that if I can just be half the mother that she is, I’ll be alright. And one day, maybe, just maybe, my son will think of me the same way.

The next time you see your mom, give her a big hug and say thank you. You don’t know the sacrifices that she has made in order to make sure that you have everything you need, and that you are happy and healthy. And if your mom is anything like mine, she deserves all the praise every day of the year. Flowers and presents are nice, but nothing beats hearing that all of her efforts through the years didn’t go unnoticed.

So, hi Mom. Thank you for every single thing you do for me. I am forever grateful for you, and I wouldn’t be who I am, or where I am, without you. I love you more.