I am horrible at remembering to get presents and cards for people on special occasions. I apologize to everyone for the missed anniversary cards, birthday cards and any other card that may have been hoped for. Especially to family.

Today, I apologize to my mom because I didn’t get anything in the mail this week. I hope this makes it up to you.

Some of the earliest memories I have are from the house we lived in in Cambridge, MN when I was 2 – or 3? The exact age isn’t important. I remember little things like my mom coming into my room to tell me to take my nap. I remember sleeping in bed with her when my dad was hard at work in his residency program – perhaps delivering babies all night. I remember her giving me apples smeared with peanut butter for the first time and thinking that it was the best thing I had ever eaten. And I remember how she set up a little play area for me under the stairs, with a lamp so I could shut the door behind me and have my own little fort.

Most of all, I remember being safe. I remember being secure and cared for. I remember being loved and listened to, even at 2 (or was it 3?). There was a little girl in the neighborhood who I often played with, but didn’t like very much. She told me I had orange hair (it’s not orange, it’s red!) and she wasn’t very good at sharing her toys. My mom understood. She didn’t force me to play with her that I remember. Instead, my mom came and got me from her house when I wanted to go home.

My Mom (and Jack) on my Graduation Day (I really need some new pictures...)

I miss that sense of security. There have been times these days when I just want to move home and be cared for by my mom. It has been mind boggling to me that now I am a mom. For the first year of Jack’s life, whenever I would go home to visit or my mom would come here, I felt that those were the times I could relax because my mom would take care of me (by caring for him). She is the real mom, after all. I must be just playing house.

I know that God has asked us to stay in Denver for a time, but I look forward to when we can move back to Minnesota to be near my mom (and my dad too, of course, but this is Mother’s Day, so it’s all about her today 😉 ). And I know Jack would love to be near his Grammy. We were lucky enough to have her visit for a week last week and now whenever someone comes to the door, Jack gets excited because it might be Grammy. We look forward to seeing her again in a month!

Thank you, Mom, for providing me with a secure start to life, for always listening and for being there for me and my sisters. I hope I can be as great a mom as you.

Happy Mother’s Day!