Mother's Day 2017

As usual, Mother's Day was bittersweet for me. I am so deeply touched by those who think of me and reach out through text, message, email, with photos, etc. 💕💐

A couple sweet mamas named Stephanie and Sara sent me this for Mother's Day, "from Lily," with her named hand-lettered on it. The envelope was addressed to "Mom," which was so sweet to receive. 😌

I also received this Mother's Day card "from" Lily. 💕

My sweet friend Brittany took Lily along with her family to St. Augustine, Florida on Mother's Day. A bright spot on a hard day! 💛 🐬 🐟 🐠 🐢 

My friend Emily also thoughtfully wrote Lily's name in the sand on her family vacation at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, in honor of Mother's Day. ❤️ 🌊 ☀️ 🐚 🐳

My friend Chloé in New Zealand thoughtfully sent me this on Mother's Day. 💕

Whilst shopping in downtown Clayton, North Carolina the day before Mother's Day, I treated myself to a couple things that reminded me of my girl. It was special to find these things in the small stores we went in.

My friend Shannon went to a Remembrance Service at her local hospital that was in honor of Mother's Day. She lit a candle and released a balloon in honor of her daughter, as well as Lily, which means a lot to me.

My sweet big brother, Joseph, and his wife, Kala, brought me these flowers on Mother's Day. 😌 💐

A couple days before Mother's Day, I went to a talent show for a local Christian school for boys with my sister-in-law (she has connections through her work). The boys came out during the show with fresh roses and asked all the mothers to stand to receive one. I hesitated briefly, feeling awkward, until Kala grabbed my arm to pull me up. It was so sweet that these young boys are learning how to value women, and also sweet to be remembered. But the sweetest part of all was how Kala knew I'd feel awkward, so she pulled me up to receive my rose.

Janelle sent me this Forget-Me-Not picture for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day was hard, but I am thankful to be Lily's mommy. And I am thankful to spend the day with my own mother. Here she is with all four of her kiddos on Mother's Day 2017 - Joseph and Adam (twins), mom, myself, and Emmaline. We love and treasure our mom. We are thankful for her, love the person God made her to be, and appreciate all she's done for us and continues to do for us. Some things I love about her: how she follows Jesus and seeks to live in light of the Truth in all spheres of life, her incredible interior design and gardening skills, how she loves her grandchildren on Earth and in Heaven, her sense of humor, her servant-heart, among a thousand other things. What a gift it is to celebrate Mother's Day, and every day, with her. Side note: I wore my Lily shirt and earrings and a necklace with her photo on it. :)

I really wanted to pamper my mom on Mother's Day, especially with how much she was missing her own mother...

My friend Tina gave me a lily Bible for Lily Kat's birthday in March this year. My mom loved it when I got it, so I got her one too... with a lily in honor of her granddaughter. And I got her white daisies in honor of her mother (my Bumma), whose favorite flowers were daisies. We had white ones at her Service last month, so I want to make it an annual tradition to get my mom white daisies in her mother's honor each year for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day marked one month since my grandmother's unexpected passing and we were missing her dearly. The tears were flowing freely, especially for my mom. 

It's tough to see my mother grieve the loss of her mother. I can't do anything to ease her pain. And I feel my own pain. Mom is 60-years-old but feels in many ways like a child without her mother. She feels lost and desperate at times to talk to the woman who has been there since the moment her heart started beating. How do you say goodbye to your mother? To the one whose love brought you to life. There are so many different kinds of grief in this world, and Lily has helped me to be much more aware and sensitive of that.

Everyone dies. Those who get as many years as my Bumma got are fortunate. But just because death at an old age is expected doesn't make it any less painful. When you love someone, you don't see their age. You see the very heart and soul of that person. Bumma had 85 amazing years on this Earth. I am thankful for the nearly 28 years I had her here. But I'll miss her the rest of my life.

This photo was taken with my mama and her mama on my 21st birthday in 2010, visiting "our tree friend." ❤️

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