Not so Silent Sunday

Today is Mother's Day and I'm feeling kind of sad. My Mom died in 1999 and the first few years after that Mother's Day was really hard for me. It got easier though and until this year I've done pretty good. This year just feels difficult, partly I think because my daughter is in the Bay Area and I won't see her today. In the past she usually worked on Sunday's so it isn't like we spent the entire day together but I would have seen her for part of the day. Anyway that's my feeling sorry for myself paragraph!

This first picture is my daughter when she was seven. She's 33 now but pretty much looks the same. A little bit taller but not much! I was 17 days short of being 19 years old when she was born and had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. After 46 hours of labor (ok, not really but I'm hoping to convince someone of that someday), the doctor held up a baby for me to look at and I said, she's beautiful because I had no idea what else to say and the situation seemed to call for something. I was probably thinking Thank God it's over. The punch line of course being it had just begun.

My daughter is a remarkable human being. She's creative, pretty, sometimes sweet, occasionally thoughtful and far smarter than probably 95% of the rest of us. If there's a fact that Jill learned and has forgotten I'd be surprised. She's a walking encyclopedia of everything she's ever read. She (don't tell her this) can actually outread me and certainly outremember me. Not an easy feat I guarantee you. Jill was an easy child, she never went through those terrible teenage years. When parents would complain about their teenage daughters I always felt a little left out. When I was a teenager my mother used to say she hoped I'd have a daughter just like me. By which you can rightly assume that I was an absolutely horrid teenager. Fortunately for me, I didn't have a daughter like me in that respect! There are many things in my life I wouldn't do again. I don't regret them, I just wouldn't repeat them. Being Jill's mother is not one of those things. I would, with full awareness of what it means, do it again without hesitation. She is the best thing that ever happened to me.  

The second picture is my Mom with me. I think I was only a month or so old at the most. She was 20 when I was born and from the expression on her face I think she probably felt the way I did when I first looked at Jill! If she were still alive she'd kill me for posting a picture of her but I figure since she's dead there's nothing she can do about it and I like the picture! 

Happy Mother's Day everyone!