Gratitude

This one goes out to my mom.  There are a lot of people who have been looking out for us, especially over the past 6 months and I am grateful to them for any and all help they have provided to us.  However, I am especially grateful to my mom. 

I can't tell you how many times I have taken her hostage.  Today, I took her hostage again. 

Before I get going, I should explain that I missed work last week in Thurs and Fri due to being sick.  I worked from home on Monday to avoid sharing my fun junk.

Back to taking mom hostage.  It started at the unreal hour of 3:30am.  I woke up next to a very, very warm little boy.  After a short struggle and him telling me that he was not going to give me any treats, he let me take his temperature.  I told him that I didn't want any treats and that I just wanted to see what his current roasting level was.  He also cracked one eye open at me when I said that.  The thermometer revealed the damage.  101 and some change.  Great. 

I wasn't worried about missing work, but I was worried about missing my doctor appt at 9:30am.  I couldn't take a feverish child to daycare and I sure didn't need to be taking him to an OBGYN clinic that is usually hopping with pregnant women.  I knew his daddy was out of the question due to mandatory training.  Anybody want to take care of my sick child so I can go to the baby doctor? 

I debated it for about 2 minutes, and then called my mom.  Most mom's would have hung up on me when I said that nobody was dead or hurt.  She didn't.  She listened.  Then she told me to call her back at 6am.  I set my alarm and finally drifted back to sleep around 5am. 

At 6am, the alarm went off and I called her as promised.  She answered and let me know that she was already on her way here.  I nearly cried, but was too sleepy.  I whispered a thank you and crashed back to sleep. 

By 8:30am, Kale was awake and watching tv while I got dressed.  As my mom's dog ran into the room, Kale simultaneously said "who is that" and literally jumped out of bed and ran down the hall.  In the first 90 seconds of seeing her, I heard him say three things:

1. Where is Pawpaw?
2. I love you Mema!
3. Thank you for coming to see me!

I could pretend that she came just because of me.  I would be half right.  She came for both of us.  I will be eternally grateful for my mom's love and giving heart.  I will never in this lifetime be able to repay her for all the times she has come running whenever I called, regardless of the reason.  When I was younger and had the mixture of an out of control mouth and teenage angst, I used to tell her that I would never be like her and I would be such a better mom.  With age comes wisdom.  Its true that I will probably never be like her.  I don't know of many mom's like her.  I also know I will never be a better mom than her.  I can try and maybe I will excel in some areas she didn't....but I know I will also fail in areas she didn't.  I can't say it enough, how thankful I am for her loving, caring, and generous heart. 

If you are one of those who have helped us over the past several months or just even offered to help, please don't take this as an insult or ungratefulness by comparison.  Not my intention at all.  I am just overly thankful for my momma.  There is nobody quite like her in my world.  I just wanted to shout that out for public knowledge. 

THANKS MOM! (for all you have already done and for all you will do....)