Happy Birthday MOM!

Happiest birthday to my sweet Momma. Yesterday was my mom’s birthday, so I’m a day late. However, I was with her all weekend, so I’m sure she will forgive my tardiness on the post….considering she has never been on time or early for anything in her life, I think she will understand.

What can I say about my mom to accurately describe what an amazing mom and person she is? Yes, she did make me OCD about germs at 4 years old, but, I’ve made it through that for the most part. See previous post from April, "GERMS..." But overall, I could never have asked for a more wonderful mother. We celebrated this weekend by eating sushi, going to see OKLAHOMA at the Desoto Family Theater and eating the awesome cake my dad made. I am so blessed to have a mother that I truly enjoy spending time with, and she is really more than a parent, she is one of my best friends as well. I have always been able to talk to my mom about anything, and I am so thankful for that relationship. Her faith and love have inspired me always.

My mom has just completed her 34th year of teaching, and if she has been half the teacher that she has been mother, then I know that she has greatly impacted many lives. Growing up in Aberdeen, we couldn’t go anywhere without seeing one of my mom’s former students. And even at a young age I could tell by the way they looked at her that she had played a very important part in their lives. I hope to be that kind of teacher one day. My mom also taught me to respect everyone and treat all people with kindness. She always spoke to everyone from the cashier at Wal-Mart to the sushi chef at Kyoto's (thanks to mom, we now know his life story). She makes everyone feel like they are important, and that is truly a gift.


She has always made me feel as if I could accomplish anything. She is one of my biggest fans. I don’t know how she did all that she did. She always came to my games to watch me cheer and my basketball games to watch me sit on the bench, and my tennis matches to watch me choke…she practiced softball with me in the front yard (I was pretty terrible at that too), she even went to dance camp with us and youth retreats too…she was great and always fun to be around and she kept everything VERY clean! I hope she knows that every hour she spent on the road to a game or sitting in the stands ment the world to me. I could never thank her enough for her devotion. One quick story: my mom used to make me call her every morning when I got to school to make sure I got there safely. If I forgot the loud speaker would come on in my classroom and the school secretary would say, "Mrs. ____, is Laurette there?" This drove me insane, but I flipped my car 3 times in 10th grade...so I can understand where she was coming from. One day, I forgot to call....and you know the story. I made some comment to my class to try and regain some shred of "coolness" when this boy in my class said, "I wish my mom loved me that much." I never complained again, and that day I realized that God had truly blessed me when He chose my mother.

The older I get and the more life I experience, I realize more and more what amazing parents I have. My mom has sacrificed so much for me and has given so much of herself to me. I hope I can be the mom that she has been to me…not anytime soon, but one day for sure. I love her so much…Travis can attest to that. My parents picked Travis and me up from the Memphis airport when we returned from our honeymoon. I cried the whole way to Nashville because I already missed my mom so much. I kept say, “it’s not you I promise, but you just can’t erase 22 years of love.” Amanda B. Cantrell can attest too…she got a tearful phone call that afternoon. She assured me that I would in fact see my mother again.

Well, mom, I could go on for days. Thank you for the unconditional love that you have given me. It has given me the confidence to try anything because I knew if I failed you and daddy would always be there to catch me. You are very weird and a bit paranoid (for example: the al qaeda cell that my mom is convinced that she has seen at the Kroger in Southave, MS) but, I still love you more than all the Bulldog Deli potato salad in the world! Happiest birthday, Momma! being "Mimi" her favorite thing to do!