My wonderful Mom

My Mom is back to stay (well, at least for a while). Grandma Toni has been doing quite a lot of running around this summer. Her escapades include places like Egypt and Hawaii, Conneticut, Ohio...the list is pretty impressive. We always hope that she 'lives it up' and enjoys her travels (no one deserves to more), but we're all so happy when she comes home to us. My Mom...gosh I could go on all day about how amazing she is (got a minute?). She's just a real ray of sunshine in all our lives. See for yourself:


I have a lot of "favorite things" I could list about my Mom. Lately I've become more aware of (and deeply appreciative of) her amazing and enduring positive outlook and infectious gratitude and appreciation for the good things in life. Not just material things she's blessed with, but the stuff most people take for granted. She helps me step back and appreciate the obvious blessings, and I love her for that. Here she is making a formerly grumpy Kennedy smile. She's great at making all of us smile.


Oh my gorgeous! This breath-taking view is a great example. We almost certainly wouldn't have come up here without my Mom inviting us (insisting. really). How important it is though, to take a step back to soak things like this in. I feel so much peace when I share views/experiences like this with her, and we're able to talk honestly with one another and recieve feedback and encouragement. What a wonderful friend I have in my Mom. Really, next to my husband, she's my best friend. Oh, that's so cheesy, sorry.


Here she is educating her favorite grand-daughter. She's such a wonderful grandmother; I couldn't ask for a better influence to have in my daughter's life. But let me tell you, I don't even have a prayer in measuring up to the type of mother she was to me. I really had every advantage and NEVER ONCE doubted her incredible love for me, or the very real power of her prayers in my behalf. I am continually trying to be a better mother, partly in homage to her legacy.



I think it all comes down to the hope that she radiates to others...she has a real "hope in Christ" (not trying to offend anyone, but I can't say it any other way). She really is a woman of faith, and her hope in what it all stands for--second chances, better things to come, a truly clean slate--is a great example to me in my life. I love you Mom.