Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and she has to spend it traveling to Birmingham for boring meetings.  I'm sad that I'm not off work to be able to drive up and meet her for a birthday lunch.  However, we will be celebrating her birthday, along with Father's Day on our beach vacation coming up at the end of the month! We can't wait!

My mom is a very ambitious and accomplished woman.  She earned 3 college degrees after having us three kiddos. That alone amazes me! My mom takes her job as Special Education Director very seriously, as she should.  She works very hard to be a voice for children who cannot speak up for themselves due to their disabilities.  She has spent endless hours studying reading programs and visiting schools, learning about Autism, and researching solutions to help these children get the most out of life.  My mom has a special gift for loving people that others find difficult to love. 

Not only is my mom good at her job, she is excellent at being a mother.  She is my "go-to woman" for advice on everything in life from planning parties, shopping, decorating tips, cooking, and what to do when I don't know what to do... just to name a few.  I can't tell you how many times I called her during my years of Pharmacy school crying that I wasn't going to make it.  She always knew how to motivate me to keep going. 

Mom and dad both have always put us kids on the top of their priority lists and they made sure we never had to do without. But we weren't spoiled either. :)  They knew when enough was enough. My only hope is that I can be at least half the mom that my mom is to me!  I really can't fathom how she managed to get the three of us kids from soccer to ballet to piano lessons to gymnastics, provide a meal, help with homework, and do it all again the next day. Oh yeah, and she went back to work as soon as all of us were in school. How? How???

So, to my beautiful, funny, loving, smart, and talented mother, Happy Birthday! I love you so much!