Saturday, February 20, 2010

Marking a Milestone in my Mother's Life

My family and a select number of her friends gathered today to celebrate the 80th birthday of our matriarch, my mother. For once, we managed to surprise her. She walked into a room totally unaware that the people there had gathered to honor her. We remembered specific ironies from her life. This mother almost died as an infant herself. Only her paternal grandmother's determination and loved saved a frail baby even as her mother faded and died within a month after giving birth. This animated, highly intelligent woman went to college, spoke to groups of Christian women in several states, was married for over fifty years, but did not get her driver's license until the age of 76. We honored her sacrificial love, her sense of humor, her ability to inspire loyalty in friends, and her joy in learning new things. Three sons gave thanks that this marvelous woman had set them on their way into life.