Happy Mothers’ Day – The Military Family

Happy Mom’s Day to all of the moms out there in the blogging-world!

I am the very lucky Mom of 3 boys plus one on the way in August. (Yes, 4 boys! plus hubs who can sometimes act like a boy … makes for 5. I am THE Queen of this castle 🙂 There is *J*, my 16 year old step-son; *E*, my 7 year old; and *C*, my 5 year old. *L* (Surprise!) will arrive around 8/9/2010. Our house is bustling as I trip over legos and balls – Baukegan and Transformers – plastic Army Men and Star Wars Figures – wherever I go!

…But tomorrow isn’t all about me…
It’s also about my mom, an Air Force wife who is settling into her ‘roots’ at the tender age of 50-something. They retired from the Air Force in 2002 and have settled down now for about 7 years. She is loving it. Gardening, cooking, travelling. Retirement has suited her well. She is the mom of three, myself and two brothers. The grandmother of 6. She is a Pioneer Club volunteer, working with grade-schoolers once a week. She is Mrs. Social, LOVING when company comes over for dinner. This is MY mom. My heritage. Amazing to think the influence she has had on me… then in turn my own children… their children… generations!

“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”Proverbs 17:6

It is about my mother-in-law; Hub’s mom. The oldest of 9, her youngest brother is closer to her own child’s age then hers. She married at 18 to her high school sweetheart and then raised two boys and a girl of her own. The house they live in now has been their house for 30+ years! (That, to this military-brat, is amazing!) Family is everything to her. There isn’t an ounce of self-centeredness in her. She has taken my boys for sleep-overs since they were babies so that Hubs and I could have ‘couple time’. She watches my preschool son and nephew a couple times each week with not one complaint. Heck, she raised my husband. She deserves a giant golden-crown for that one! 😉

It’s about our grandmothers. Grandma Evelyn died of breast cancer before my parents were even married. I have heard many great stories about her though. I have known her sisters (my great-aunts) and can only imagine what a fun woman she was! Grandpa remarried some time later (before I was born) and Grandma K (technically a step-grandma) has always been my grandmother and treated me like her flesh and blood granddaughter. My Grandma Jo died a few short years ago, shortly after *C* was born, and as my mom and her sisters left the hospital after saying good-bye a bright shiny rainbow appeared in the sky. That was definitely Grandma Jo worthy! She was a beautiful woman in so many ways. Grandma Resar is a mom of nine. A good Catholic mom who ran a flower-shop with her husband for years; she has laid one of her sons to rest, is continuing to help with a son who had some serious brain-damage later in life and has grandkids and great-grandkids coming in and out of the house all the time, sometimes for long periods! I never met Grandma Kocsis. She died before hubs and I were even dating but from what I understand she was a wonderful Hungarian-cook. A Grandma that doted on her 3 grandkids and I’m sad that my own children never got to have her in their lives. There is something about our history that we want our own children to see and live.

Mothers Day is about my Sisters-in-Law. The very special Aunts in my boys lives. The Sisters I never had. I have four sisters-in-law. Three of them are moms. I was the first mom amongst them and I have LOVED watching each of them morph from single to engaged to married to mother-hood. It has suited them all well! (Not to mention all the cute nephews and niece running around at family gatherings!) Sometimes they look to me for advice and make me feel wise. Sometimes, I just have to say ‘I have no idea!’. But we are tripping and rolling and rocking through motherhood together!

It’s about friends. Mothers of teenagers, grade-schoolers, preschoolers and babes. My best friend from 1st grade through 4th grade came home from the hospital this month with triplets. She gets a very special Happy Mothers Day. I’m sure it will be filled with bottles, cries and a lack of sleep on Mom and Dad’s part. But I go back to those moments of joy as I held my own newborns… marveling at God’s Perfect Gift. It is hard to say to a new-mom, “Cherish these moments” because I KNOW those first two or three months are the worst. But I think the key is moments. There are moments that you have to grasp onto and hold and in your sleep-filled eyes try your hardest not to forget.

Then there is the easily forgotten woman who so badly wants to be a mom … but just can’t. I have friends in this boat. I know the struggle. I was already a mom of one though when I had a very short-struggle (compared to years and years) with not getting pregnant. I can only imagine what years and years would be like struggling with it. You, my friend, get a very special hug today!

I wish you a Happy Mothers Day today! If you aren’t a mom find someone who is and be sure to wish them a Happy Mothers Day. A lot of military-spouses are missing their husband’s dearly on their special day. It’s hard to get a ‘moment-off’ when you are the only on in charge. And if you are a ‘temporarily-single’ mom do something fun! I clearly remember going to the Zoo on Mother’s Day when hubs was deployed. It was about FUN, memory making, just being with my boys!