Happy Little Trees

Today is my mom’s birthday. She’s 60. Whoah. That’s a chunk of change!

I wish I could e-mail my mom, and make you e-mail her, but she’s a Renaissance woman. And doesn’t have an e-mail.
Since you probably don’t know my mom, here’s her story:

My mom was born near Owensboro, Kentucky, and my Uncle Gordon had to trek through the snow to find the doctor (so legend says). At the age of 15, she moved from the third largest city in Kentucky, to the third smallest city. That’s where, at the age of 16, she met my dad. She married my dad at the age of 18, had her first child at the age of 19 (teenage pregnancy!), and then my brother at 21, and she thought she was done. She and my dad moved 13 times all around the state of Kentucky, before finally settling into their beautiful farmhouse estate in Dundee. They had to move because of an unexpected surprise (“Well, we wanted you after we saw you!”) of me being born to my mom when she was feeling really old at the age of 28.

My mom has had a few jobs, but has spent most of her life serving the community, church, and her family with amazing devotion. She’s the busiest woman without a fulltime job that I know. She’s been known to do crazy things sometimes like mow the lawn with a flashlight, put on wigs to go undercover, and vacuum at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. She doesn’t stop. In later years, I think I’ve figured out that my mom carries the family gene of something called “A.D.D.”

My mom loves to laugh and is always smiling. She likes to sing everything she says. And she likes fluffed hair and Aqua Net. She likes to shop, but just because she needs stuff. She loves to talk. She loves to decorate houses and “detail” cars to cover flaws (with creative uses of stickers and ducktape). She’s not scared to kill bugs. She loves to watch movies. She’s a very hard worker (it makes me tired to think about it). She also is “Grandmother Judy” to six grandchildren and the favorite mother-in-law to two.

Growing up with my mom was like being part of a comedy series. I was her sidekick for many years. She didn’t believe in babysitters, so I had to—I mean--got to--go everywhere with her.

Mom, Happy Birthday. I love you very much and even though it scares me that I stand like you and sometimes things pop out of my mouth that are from you, I love you love you love you.