That’s a commandment. From God. Honor thy father and thy mother.
Whenever I hear this commandment, or come across it … I think, “yeah Taylor, are you listening?” And then God says gently to me, “Um, ‘cuse me Tracie … are you listening?”
I love how God talks to me. :)
So, in honor of my mom’s birthday tomorrow … I want to unwrap a very important gift today … honoring our father’s and mother’s {with our time}.
I think it’s something we tend to take for granted. I know I sure as heck do. Sorry mom.
We love our parents. And we know our parents love us. I think the people closest to us are the ones who are most taken for granted.
And as we get older and move on with our own lives, and our own children … I think our parents can sometimes take a backseat. Not on purpose. But just in the everyday chaos of life.
But that doesn’t mean it’s okay. And it doesn’t mean our parents like it … right mom? ;)
I’m going to be spending the day with my mom today. I told her to think about what she wanted to do. Shopping, a movie, lunch … her birthday wish is to have me come over and help figure out where to hang photos, and to help her go through her clothes. Simple as that.
Think about, as parents, what we’d like from our children … especially as they get older … I turn to mush when Taylor just wants to sit with me, or hold my hand, or comes along on a car ride {usually to get the girls} to just hang with me.
Our time can be an incredible gift.
I think some kids {adult kids that is} are better at staying in touch and calling, connecting with their parents. And some just aren’t {like me}. It’s not that I don’t think about them. Honestly, I think about them all the time.
And it may suck as an excuse, but I guess I’m so busy keeping my head and my family’s head above water, that I don’t check in as often as I should with my parents.
I was thinking yesterday about the difference between my sister and I. She checks in all the time … she’s always in touch with my mom. And I started thinking about this and what the difference might be … one thing I thought of is that my sister “left the nest” when she was 18 or 19. She got married young and had a baby young. She needed that connection and relied on my mom to help. She also “left” earlier than she wanted to …
Whereas for me … I lived at home until I was 23. By the time I left, I was good and ready to leave. :) No seriously, as you start to become an adult and you’re still living in your parents house … and you want your own set of rules, but that doesn’t necessarily happen and before you know it, you’re just plain ready to spread your own wings.
Anyway.
I got to thinking about all of that and thought I’d share my insight.
Isn’t my mom beautiful? She was a young mom. 21. She was 21 when she had both my sister and I.
Cute story, and sorry mom … I gotta share …
So my mom’s birthday is November 18 and she turns 21. Then has me on November 30 {yeah, I got a bday comin’ round the bend}. She goes in for her 6 week check-up … only to have the doctor inform her that she’s pregnant again. People can check out this resource for pregnancy related queries. Yeah.
So then she has my sister the following November 12, before she turns 22 on the 18th.
Follow that? ;)
And the fun part {besides the fact that I had a built in playmate}, is that my sister and I get to be the same age for about 3 weeks each year.
Can you guess which one I am? ;) Oooooooo!! This just came to me … let’s have a contest! For everyone that guesses correctly, I’ll put your names into a pool and draw a winner. Not sure what I’ll be giving away yet, but I promise it’ll be fun! ;)
My mom hasn’t had it easy in her life. And through that, she’s taught me perseverance. She also showed me faith in God. I thank her for that.
Thank you mom for loving Trish and I like no other. Thank you for sacrificing so much and working so hard … for us.
I love you more than you can imagine …
your mom is still beautiful but wow i can see where you get your beauty from even more…what a wonderful tribute to your mom and i can say from experience to embrace everyday you have her here and while you may not call her everyday she knows how you feel and that you are just a tiny bit busy….i so wish i could give my mom a hug right now~
Happy Birthday Rose!!! Enjoy your day (your mom-daughter day & your birthday)!!! 29 this year right?
The pics are great…really cool to look at Rose and see which of you two she looks like in each pic, as well as the pics of you as a kid T to see which one of the girls you look like in each! :-)
Oh and I’m pretty sure you are on the right in the pink sweatshirt!
Okay, Miss Tracie, that’s twice in the last 12 hours you should have issued a Kleenex warning. :-) I’m guilty of not spending enough time with my parents . . . and need a smidge of an attitude adjustment towards them.
Happy Birthday, Rose! Have a wonderful day with your amazing daughter. Love those photos of the both of you!!
And I’ve got to agree with Heather. I think that’s you, T, on the right side of the photo (to your Mom’s left.) I thought instantly that it looked like Tay!
Really, I am going to have to stop hanging out with you if you continue to bring tears to my eyes. Your mom is a beautiful person inside and out! I am thankful my mom and dad are so close to me and I do spend a lot of time with them – something I will never ever regret!
P.S. You are the one on the right, in the pink shirt, or to the left of your mom, or the one that is not Trish.
Wow! Two babies, one right after the other. What a brave and courageous woman. I love this tribute to your mom. Happy birthday to your mom, you and your sis!
PS: I’m guessing you’re on the right in the picture.
yes……i need to call my mom now…….i LOVE the photos…..i want….no…. need to pull out my old family photos…..so good for the soul. oh and you are the one on the right with the solid pants……..
Ok a box of kleenix later – Thank you Tracie that was the best birthday gift ever – I loved having the two of you so close together and you were like Piper and Wynter (where one went the other was right there) Remember the purse you got for each of us with my favorite picture of you girls) One for you, one for Trisha and one for mom. Guess what everyone (mom got all three in the end) :-) I used mine so much that it looked shabby so Tracie gave me hers then that one I wore out so Trisha gave me hers (I wanted to keep one in good shape so I only use it on trips that I take when both girls are with so when people say (oh I love your purse I can say (and point to the girls) this is them when they were little. :-)
i wanna know how you got the pic of us w/mom?? i don’t have a copy of that one. i guess because you’re 11 months older, you get first dibs. growing up we were lucky to be so close in age so our mom merely had to endure “firsts” just once :) however, we are sincerely fortunate to have our mother, our friend. she is hands down the most selfless mother alive (of course, i’m partial, she’s ours). since the day we were born no matter her hardships or her obstacles to overcome we were her number one priority, and nobody was about to take that away from her. in our childhood we were (financially) less privileged than others, but not a day went by that our mom didn’t treat us like the princesses she saw in her heart… and with that we had the world!! i love you mom, happy birthday.. and thank you for my sister :)
Thanx, Tracie, for the beautiful tribute you wrote about your very special mom. I’ve been a good friend of Rosie for most of your life and I KNOW she ALWAYS LOVED you and Trish and wanted to do the very best in raising you girls. She always was so proud of your accomplishments. She was so funny….if I would say something special about one of you ….she would quickly add the name of the other girl too. So thanx again for showing the world how special your mom is.
I so enjoyed this post and the theme of honoring our parents. So important. I also enjoyed the surprise pregnancy story, although it probably was a hardship for sure. As a twin, I know the joy of having that “built-in” playmate. My guess is that you’re the one on the right, wearing the pink shirt. Cute pics.
What a special birthday for your Mom! Happy Birthday Rose! I am going to say the one on the left (flowered pants)is you, only because everyone else said the right. I’m totally guessing, I cannot tell at all.
Thank you everyone for the nice Happy Birthday’s. Trisha I had to get a new box of kleenix. Thank you for those beautiful words. If I had to do it all over again, I would still have my gorgeous girls 11 months apart – you really were great girls and very well behaved. I am still so very proud of you both and cannot stop boasting of you to others. But I think all moms are like that :-) I was just telling Taylor last night that I was 39 when you both graduated.
It is so easy to take them for granted. Thank you for posting this today, I think I needed a little reminder.
And my goodness – I would have fallen over if I had been told at 6 weeks post partum I was going to have another baby!! What a story :)
Happy Birthday Granny! Tracie, whenever you write I always can feel the emotion. And I felt the love and proudness that you have for Granny in that post. Trisha in your comment I felt the same warmth and love. Happy Birthday to an amazing person! :)
I wanna say your the one with the funky pants, but im going to choose the girl in the pink.
Im the worse at keeping in touch, and she lives the next town down the road to me. But were both busy, so I think we just give each other the get out of jail card from getting frustrated with each other. I don’t know why I don’t keep in touch more. maybe b/c i know she is always there? I’m not a big talker on the phone, so i hate doing that. Now ya got me all feeling all guilty and stuff! lol. I think it all has to do with our love language. My language is gifts and acts of service. My mom knows that i hate talking on the phone and I don’t visit as often as I should, but Ill drop everything to come to her aid. I think our moms know that about us. And still love us. ; )
that was a great reminder as well as a wonderful tribute to your mom. I hope you and your mom have a wonderful day together.
it’s you on the right!
I think you are in the pink… and I never knew you and Trish were “Irish Twins”. God Bless your Mom!!
I think you are in the pink on the right. And I have really enjoyed following your blog! Thank you for sharing what God teaches you….knowing that it may impact your readers as well
What a lovely family you have, Tracie! And you’re all hip & stylin’ in the last photo for the times. I think you’re in the Yale sweatshirt, just because you look older. But if I assumed you were twins, I would have definitely picked the funky pants on the left to be yours :)
I love this post, Tracie… It’s a wonderful reminder to me about finding quality time to spend with my own mama. I’m sure she’d love a day of hanging photos and the like too.
I definitely think you’re the little cutie on the right and though I can see a bit o all your kids in that sweet face, I especially see a dark haired version of little Hunter!
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