I adore everything about her, not because she is perfect, but she is perfect for me. She makes my life beautiful, not just by her presence or her laugh or her wisdom, but because she chose to invest in her children. She lived in the moment, taking chances and risks, but even more than that, she invested in the future. Our future.
She impressed upon us to cling tightly to our faith, knowing she was limited in her mothering. She loved and cared for my Dad first, teaching us what it took to have a thriving marriage. She gleaned wisdom from those with more experience and insight, and in turn became the one from whom others glean. And she prayed. A lot.
I think the most Beauty Full moments I will always remember about my mother are those late nights in high school. My siblings and I would file in, one by one, from the busyness of the day, and gather at the foot of our parents bed. It was informal, unintentional, and wonderful. We'd go over the events of the day and ask advice about friendships and love interested. We were usually exhausted, but not enough that we couldn't hang out with mom and dad for the last hour of the day.
It's weird and uncommon but for us, it was natural and necessary. We cried, laughed, whined, rejoiced, and created together.
I remember one night in particular, it was just mom and the girls on the bed, probably talking about the tall tales of high school romance. Dad came in, ready for bed, and began giving us hints that it was time to shut the talking time down. We started wrapping up the discussion when my brother got home and joined us, all twitterpated, which, naturally, instigated an innumerable amount of questions about "The Girl."
By midnight, Dad (who had also gotten wrapped up in our convo) realized his slumber hours were pretty much gone, and officially kicked us out. We reluctantly picked up our purses and keys and shoes and walked to our rooms, but not without turning to remind him, "When we all get older and move out, you're gonna be sad these midnight conversations are over." And guess what he is. She is. We all are.
That was a time when life was Beauty Full. Though we're all grown now, creating lives and beginning families of our own, the investment of those midnight's will last us a lifetime.
So thank you Mom, for praying for the unity and strength of our family. Thank you Dad, for really caring about what boys we liked and what clothes we wore. And thank you both for investing and making our lives so very full of beauty.
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