Go Mom, it's your Birthday!

My Mom's birthday was September 15th and she deserves such a big awesome blog post that I couldn't even do it...or so I thought.
Here she is cooking with her mother (my Mimi) in Mississippi on our last visit. Sam & Dorris, cookin' up a famous pot roast. Mmmmm..

I love this picture of my eyes because you can really see the resemblance to my Mom. I have her exact eyes & eyebrows, which are my favorite parts, so everyday when I look in the mirror I think "Thanks Mom".
Here is her Dad driving the grand kids around his Mississippi farm. Her grandparents' farm was just up the road from here. Her favorite thing growing up was to go stay at Granny & Grandad's farm where she could enjoy all manner of fun activities such as cow feeding, .22 shooting, fishing or cotton picking to name just a few.
This is the house her family moved into when she was about 10. When I was a kid I loved staying in her bedroom and imagining what she was like "back in the olden days" when she was a kid!

I know we all love our Moms, I'm not trying to one-up anybody about theirs...but my Mom is pretty much the coolest ever. Deal with it.
When she was in college, she'd had enough of Mississippi and moved to New York City to be a foxy stewardess for Eastern; they hired all the gorgeous tall brunettes, like her.
Then she moved to Alaska with my Dad where they made history getting married in McGrath in a log cabin, surrounded by drunken Eskimos. None of their family were there and it was a pretty unconventional scene, unlike the weddings of all their siblings. Maybe this is why I never had wedding fantasies; you can't top my parent's Alaskan, drunk Eskimo having, wolfskin wedding present giving, real silver dollars ring exchanging, incredible wedding.
When I was a kid I admired her beauty & charms so much that I can not recall a single incident where I felt embarrassed by her. You always hear about kids being embarrassed by their parents, but I never felt that way...ever. She would pick me up from nursery school in her big green Cadillac and I was always so excited to see her and proud to be seen with her; I felt like a rock star.
She is the absolute best nursemaid ever. Real nurturing is a fine art that can't be taught and Mom has it. And that's one more thing I have to thank her for, I learned from the best. I suffered many childhood illnesses and I remember spending quite a bit of time being sick, but she so lavished me with love & care during these times as to actually make being sick just a little bit enjoyable.
I'm grown now (as much as I'll ever be anyway) and I'm exactly half her age, and she still takes care of me whenever I need it just like when I was five.
And if all that wasn't enough, she is absolutely hilarious to boot! We have as much fun together as I have with any of my friends, really.
She is now a Mimi her own self and she's the best at that too. I so enjoy watching her with my sister's kids. Kids love her. Old people love her, everybody loves Sam! She is the best gold hoop earring wearing, knee driving, word mixing up, people charming, bargain finding, Blue Willow collecting, fine Southern food cooking, sick people taking care of, conflict resolving irresistible Southern Belle ever!
I love my Mom.