Mothers deserve to be celebrated every day of the year; but on this day specifically, we get to spend a few hours honoring these wonderful women. Many of us make meals, have a picnic, or do odd jobs around the house to let our mothers know we care. Unfortunately, I do not get to partake in any of these events this year as I am half a country away in North Carolina. I purchased my mother a card (which is currently en route to her via my father on an airplane) and gave her a quick phone call, but I wanted to do something a little more special. I wish I could buy her a piece of fine jewelry or send her on a trip to a tropical destination, but my current college debt and non-lucrative job put a damper on my ability to do such things. One thing I know she has always enjoyed are my blog posts. In fact, she may be one of the few people that actually read the silly thing (clearly I don't do this for fame). So, on this Mother's Day, I decided to write a blog dedicated to her.
I consider myself very fortunate to share a great relationship with my Mom. Many people would call me a Momma's Boy, and I wouldn't disagree with them. My Mom is one of my best friends, and the relationship that I share with her is one of my greatest treasures. Throughout life she has been my biggest fan, but also my biggest critic, never being afraid to tell me when I have gone astray.
I feel that many mothers shelter their children, always keeping the training wheels of life close in case they start to wobble. My Mom was not afraid to let me fall and skin my knee every once in awhile. Don't get me wrong, it pained her to see me struggle, but she knew that I needed to learn to navigate life on my own. When I would fall, and fall again, she would always be there waiting to help me pick up the pieces and prepare for another try.
My Mom always pushed me to the best I could be. She knew when I was going through the motions and was never scared to bring it to my attention. During high school and college I called this "her being too hard on me," but now I realize that she knew I just needed a swift kick in the butt every now and then. By doing so, she taught me to expect more in myself, to never settle when I knew I could do better.
I could spend several hours writing about what my Mom has taught me, but I actually want to focus on a few of my favorite memories with my Mom. Listed below you will find some of my most cherished memories shared with her. You all may find some of them sappy, or even cheesy, but frankly I don't care because it's Mother's Day.
1) In high school I used to get soooo nervous about football games. For some reason I thought that everything in my life was riding on these games and that if I made a mistake my world would come crashing down. To get me to loosen up before my games my Mom would stand on our kitchen table and give me pep talks. At the giant height of 5ft 2in tall you can imagine that this was more hilarious than it was inspiring. However, I will never forget these little pep talks.
2) My sophomore year of college my parents chaperoned a group of my friends and I on a cruise. On this particular cruise we made a stop in Belize. Those of us on the cruise know what happened in Belize, but I won't go into any more detail than that (ask my Mom).
3) My graduation ceremonies. Looking into the crowd and seeing the excitement and pride on my Mom's face made every sleepless night and hour of studying worth it.
4) Her Irish jig. For those of you that have not seen this, you are definitely missing out.
5) In high school my Mom used to cook my friends and I lunch once a week. She would let us know a week in advance what she was going to cook and we would decide a day of the week that worked best for us to attend and she would always have a hot meal waiting for us.
6) When I was little my Mom used to read me a book, "Love you Forever" by Robert Munsch. I will never forget the words of that book and quote it often in letters/cards to my Mom.
7) Our yearly trips to Dairy Queen. When I was in school my Mom and Deb Rohloff would take all of us to Dairy Queen to celebrate the beginning and end of the school year.
8) Our trip to the Mahaska County Fair. My Mom thought it would be a great idea to have me ride the tea cups. Needless to say I turned green and have yet to ever ride them again. I should point out that she already knew at this point in my life that I HATED carnival rides/roller coasters. Yes, I am one of those kids.
9) On my route to and from school there was a narrow road that passed between a cemetery and a green house. This road was only big enough for a single car to pass at any given time. Early in my driving career I encountered a situation where I met a car in the middle of this road and it wasn't budging so I threw my car into reverse and tried to back out. However, I was not so good at backing up and side swiped the back half of my truck on the side of the green house. Luckily I drove an '89 Chevy pickup, but it did leave a nice scrape down the back side of my truck. Being the wise child that I was, I told my parents that another car had side swiped me in the parking lot at the basketball game when my car was parked. Fool proof idea, right? Wrong. The next day my Mom comes home and asks me if I "would happen to know why there was a big red scrape on the side of the greenhouse?" Of course, I denied my involvement, but then she noted that the color was oddly similar to that of my truck. Following this statement she asked me again what had happened in the parking lot. I knew I was a goner and accepted my punishment. I still have no idea how she knew.
10) Her photo albums. My Mom made a family photo album just about every year when I was growing up and made my sister and I a photo album every year of high school. Yeah, she rocks.
Well I hope you all enjoyed hearing a little bit about my Mom today. I truly hope that all of you have been as lucky as I have been to have such a wonderful mother growing up. To all of you mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!
Preston Sereg
