Thursday Thirteen: memories with my mom

For today's post I am going to share some memories I have of my mom. Other bloggers have already posted their thirteen for the day, you can link to them HERE

I have a wonderful relationship with both my parents, one day I will share some dad memories. My mom was just able to spend some time with us and it will be a long time before she visits again. I wish she and my dad lived closer.

1. I broke my leg playing soccer in high school. My mom would drive me to school and wait as I maneuvered my way into the building with a cast up to my hip. When I was about 3/4 of the way down the path - too far to get into or away from the building very quickly - and she would call out to me "  I LOVE YOU HONEY! YOU FORGOT TO KISS ME GOODBYE!" Oh funny lady. FUNNY LADY.

2. On Sunday afternoons when we still lived in Zim we would go to my Nan and Grandad's house for supper. We would play soccer or other games as a family in the front yard. My uncles and their friends all rode bikes - my uncle's friend JJ was a motocross racer. They would all ride bikes around the yard. They would all take turns doing stunts. My mom could do some awesome stunts. I remember her up on the bike seat with one leg up in the air behind her.

3. When I was in high school I was in seminary. For Mormon high school kids this is a daily scripture based study. For kids in Utah or other highly populated Mormon areas this is something you can take during your school day in buildings close to school property. For remote locations this is something you either have at your church building every morning before school or you do it yourself at home. My first year of seminary I was the only student in our area. I had no teacher and no class to go to before school. My mom woke up with me early EVERY morning, made toast and hot chocolate, and studied with me. EVERY DAY.

4. We drove across Canada from Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia when my dad got a job in Sydney. To keep us occupied mom had us memorizing scriptures and nursery rhymes or poems and depending on how long they were she paid us for each one we memorized. I still remember the ones I learned. Do you now how many verses there are to the nursery rhyme "Winken, Blinken and Nod"? I do!

5. My mom sings. All the time. At every task. We would have to do the supper dishes and each of us got to choose a song to sing as we worked. I believe every one of her kids - myself included - still sing all the time. As we were driving home from Edmonton with mom in the car we sang with the boys. Max and CJ are singing more and more every day and I love to listen to them. Singing is an important part of their lives as it was in mine and in my mom's.

6. My mom is wildly creative. She has made all of her kids - five of us - a recipe book with all her recipes in it. in each book she has drawn a little character (mine is a spider, but others have elephants) and the character is featured on every page. All of her letters and correspondence have her little characters throughout, and on the envelopes. It is always a treat to get something in the mail from mom. She makes birthday cards and remembers everyone's birthdays. The cards from Gramma are something special for our boys.

7. Mom can only remember one joke. It is the same joke she knew 20 years ago. She loves jokes and no matter how many times she learns a new one she only remembers one.
"What did one centipede say to the other centipede when a lady centipede walked by...."?
"What a lovely pair of legs, pair of legs, pair of legs, pair of legs..... "

8. She falls asleep the minute she sits down in the day. She is the hardest worker I know and deserves to fall asleep the minute she sits down, but growing up I always wondered why she seemed so tired. HELLO! FIVE CHILDREN! WORKAHOLIC! anyway - she falls asleep in movies notoriously. I want her to watch the movie Princess Bride. She has seen the beginning of it about 400 times, but inevitably falls asleep before the Cliffs of Insanity.

9. Mom stayed at home with us while we were growing up. If I could be one hundredth of the mom to my kids that she was to me then my kids will be lucky, lucky children. I try to be a mother like she was every day.

10. Mom is an athlete. She is a wicked squash player and played basketball in a league when I was young. She held the record for high jump in her school for many years - it was after she was married, had children and we had left Rhodesia for Canada that my grandfather called to tell us her high jump record had finally been broken. By the time it was broken high jumpers had a different "style" of jumping. I wonder if the jumping styles were the same if her record would not still be standing.

11. A harder worker I have never met in this world. Mom is always working on something or the other. We talk to one another about the lists of things we are working on. When mom was here we got a LOT done from my list of things to do. It is a joy to work with mom, the time passes effortlessly when we work side by side.

12. My mother is a woman of faith. She knows what she believes and she lives what she believes. Unfortunately her faith and my sexuality are at odds and we have had some conflict, but no-one in my family doubts my mothers faith. We "joke" about the power of mom's prayers, but there is no doubt or joke in the fact that when she prays, things happen. My sister in law was in labour and my brother asked for mom's prayers. The labour started to proceed with much haste and my SIL said to my brother - "tell your mom to stop praying" !!

13. My mom is my idol. I want to be like her and if my kids love me as much as I love her my life will be complete. A more amazing woman I have never met.