For some reason this Christmas is seeming 20 million times more hectic than usual! I think that I've been so busy checking off my lists that I haven't had time to really get into the Christmas spirit! That's all changing today because I've just about finished my hectic week and I can sit back and just enjoy the music and the lights and the food! Christmas is a very bittersweet holiday for me. It's definitely my favorite - but I miss my family in Idaho and Arizona and I miss my mom. It will be 10 years this January since she passed away. The time has gone by so fast. I'm trying to carry on some of the traditions that she started. She made us a doll every year for Christmas. We LOVE those dolls. From the time that we were little Kelyn and I would sneak out in the middle of the night to see what Santa had brought. I love it when the house is dark and the Christmas tree is all lit up and the stockings are stuffed. And we loved those dolls that were always next to our stockings. Kelyn and I still like to sneak out to look at the tree! My mom also let us help her make ornaments for all the cousins every year and she always made something cute for her siblings. I am just so thankful for her example and for all that she taught me. Anyway - that is why Christmas is bittersweet for me. It's the time of year when I miss my mom the most. I wish she could be here to love on my girlies (and me). I wish that Nathan could know her. It's okay though. Life is so great and we are so happy and I can honestly say that I have been blessed because of this trial.
Just a few memories of my mom:
*Watching her line dance to Neal McCoy's GIVE ME THAT WINK and her saying how much she loved his tight cowboy jeans and boots.
* mopping the floor with her and Kelyn. This was on our hands and knees and we each picked a corner and met in the middle. I'm SO glad she taught me how to work!!!!
* One time I came home from school and said the word "freakin" and she had told me that if I said that again she would put soap in my mouth so I took off running and she started chasing me around and around and by the end we were both laughing so hard - it was the best.
* Coming home from school with my friend Renee and turning the corner in the kitchen to find her NAKED and leaning against the counter just chatting away on the phone. HAHA! Renee and I still laugh about that!
*She was always such a good sport and drove the UGLIEST cars. One time Kelyn and I were playing around the block and she drove up in her "new" white car and leaned her head out the window and asked if we wanted to go cruising with her. The funny thing is I think that she really was excited about this new car and it was so ugly. VERY LONG, VERY WIDE. One time we had to get out in the middle of the intersection and push it into a gas station. NICE!
* Her reaction to me starting my period. CLASSIC.
* If she ever got after me she would come in to talk to me later and apologize and help me understand why I had gotten in trouble.
* The way she loved dad. When I was a teenager she told me that she still got butterflies when he held her hand.
*Her whistle that could be heard 4 blocks away!
* The way she took care of me when I was sick. I had a bell that I could ring for her and she always held my hair back when I threw up. I wish I had taken better care of her when she was sick.
*Making Valentines Day cookies. We got to miss school the day before V-day to help make them. We always had stacks and stacks of heart-shaped cookies on the table and once we were done decorating them we would go around to people's houses and leave them on the doorstep and knock and run.
* Her teaching us girl's camp songs and singing in the car on all of our vacations.
I'll stop now - I'm all weepy and this post is FOREVER long. But I did want to write something in remembrance of my mom. She deserves to be remembered because she truly was an amazing lady. I'm thankful that I can still remember her smile and her laugh. I'm glad that she taught me to love Christmas and I hope she peaks in to watch my girls when they see THEIR Christmas dolls.
6 comments:
such a sweet post!
your mom sounds like such a wonderful lady!
i loved reading your memories...got me teary eyed.
hugs,
jill
Seeing your mother through your eyes is precious to me! I think I must have known her before this earth life, yet I can't remember her. I can't wait to be reunited with her and talk non-stop about the children and the husband that we share!!! I already love her---thanks for sharing.
Wonderful post Brittanie. I think it's so great to remember so many fun things. It's great to put it all down. Thank you for sharing.
Oh Brittanie, you brought back such a flood of memories that got me missing my sister all over again. You would think, after 10 years, such wonderful memories would not come with a whole new crop of tears.
I was trying to tell uncle Pat about the things you wrote, and couldn't. What a special, wonderful human being she was! I have never met another like her.
I am so glad that you are keeping with the traditions that she loved so much. How she cherished her kids!
Remember her unladylike scream?? I remember one time I showed up at your house and she was vacuuming, and was not aware of my being there. I was standing right behind her when she turned around and saw me and let out one of those screams. When she finished she said "Dang it! That hurt!" We both died laughing.
Thank you for sharing your memories.
What a sweet post Brittanie! I am sitting here crying too! Your mom sounds like a wonderful lady and like SO much fun. What a great tribute to her. Have a great holiday season! I'm sure she is proud of the person and mother you are to your girls.
Sheesh Britt. I don't know that we've ever cried together about your mom, but nothing can bring on tears quicker than your tender stories of her. I didn't know her very well, but I sure love you and I know that everyone says you are so much like her. I remember having her drop us off at the mall and she was so mad at us because we accidentaly(I spelled that wrong) waited at a different place than we were supposed to and she was driving all over in her big brown van looking for us. (another beauty of a car I would imagine). I don't know if you'll read this since you posted it awhile ago, but I loved it and I love you!
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