Mother's Day

Another difficult day, yet filled with love and a peace that passes all understanding. Mother's Day was another day for Todd to show me how much he loved me, as he would be sure to make this day special and remind the kids to thank God for their wonderful Mom. I always felt loved and appreciated....Todd made sure of that.

Three years ago on this date we buried my husband. The memories of that day are blurred, yet some things stand out clearly....the casket, the limo ride, putting flowers on the casket and watching some fall into that dark hole, holding Winter as she shook with tears and sadness as we stood beside the casket, and the van breaking down on our way home.

Today, with all it's memories of this date and all it's memories of past Mother's Days, I surprisingly and gratefully, felt that love again. Many, many thanks to great friends (thanks Brent and Amy!), the kids were given money to take me out to dinner. The boys did a great job of handling the bill and tip with the money given to them, and the older ones took good care of the younger ones in order to make the dinner extra special. The children were sincerely thankful to God for me. They expressed their love so geniunely and thoughtfully. I was blessed.

When we got home, they presented me with a special "card." They told me how they had been hiding it from me all week. They had been secretly gathering pictures and designing and creating a collage of all the things I like, love, and hold dear to my heart. I cried. It was a special gift indeed. I had to scan it to share on my blog.

I am so thankful for the love from my friends, children, Todd, and God today. The added blessing from God of that peace has been my stronghold when the sadness seemed overwhelming. God is so good.

Here's my special gift, with every picture and word portraying something that means a lot to me (yes, I once was in love with Harrison Ford...I'll admit it): (they had planned to have Todd's picture bigger than Hans...honest!)