I recently re-joined Hope*Writers and as part of the orientation group and introductions I discovered a fellow new member and her brilliant collection of gratitude posts here on Instagram. I decided almost immediately that it would be a great way for me to try to be diligent about two things that are really important to me; writing a little every day and keeping a mind and heart focused on gratitude. So, here I am on day one. I have so much to be grateful for - where do I start? I thought perhaps at the beginning would be the best place.
My beginning was when God chose this wonderful human being to be my mom. She’s not one for letting me share photos of her, but this was taken by one of my daughters this past summer when we were enjoying a few hours at a local farm that had a sunflower patch.
In elementary school we were given an assignment to write about our “tall pine person”. The person we looked up to and admired most. She was and is my tall pine person. She is for a lot of people. Hard working, smart, generous, funny, creative, determined, and a little stubborn to boot. I don’t have to wonder where I got that from :-)
She loves her family, quilting, Cardinals baseball, and Little Debbies strawberry shortcakes. Oh, and bacon. She loves bacon :-)
Although she doesn’t remember it, she used to sing a song to me by Helen Reddy called You and Me Against the World. That was our song, and because she did that I chose songs for all my kids when they were babies and they are an important childhood memory for us.
There was a time when she made a choice that changed the course of my future. Without that sacrificial choice, I would never have had the privilege to live this beautiful life with my husband and our family. I will forever be grateful for her love and her selfless choice to ensure that I went out into the world to see and experience more than I ever would have in our little neck of the woods. Thank you, Mom. I am grateful for you