Mi Madre

Something I've always admired about my mother is that she's *proud* of her kids. Always has been. You drew her a little picture when you were 2? She probably still has it (if it made it out of New Jersey, of course..but you'd better believe she had it up until that point and was more than a little bummed when it didn't arrive with everything else).

I remember making her this terribly ugly necklace in about 3rd grade. A faux pearl necklace consisting of a tube of fabric (blue), marbles, and some beads. I remember sitting at my classroom desk following the directions precisely. Open the tube of fabric..slide a marble in..put a bead (those bigger beads) around the fabric to separate the marbles..repeat. It wasn't the cutest thing in the world..but my tiny fingers did their best so I could present my mother with something I made. I remember all of the kids going into her bedroom in the morning and presenting her with our gifts or cards or maybe even just a hug. I handed her my gift..she opened the paper and man oh man..I remember that grin. She seemed so proud that her little Abby did this for her even though she had piles of homemade jewelry from the 6 older kids at this point. It never seemed to get old. She was just as thrilled EVERY time. You'd better believe she put that necklace on before we left for church that day. I can still imagine myself with all of the other children in the church on a Mothers' Day standing at the front and singing "Mother, I love youuu..mother, I doooo.." and looking at her grinning from ear to ear while proudly displaying her child's best work. She wore that thing often..and though it wasn't anything special..her baby made it for her and that's all that mattered.



Happy mama's day, mama! I love you!