Mother's Day

I'm kind of at a loss for words today. Sometimes it's just best not to speak at all. Mother's Day wishes are everywhere you look. Including the chocolate candies given out today at church. The little children sang and it was so sweet. And to sit up front and see the faces of the adults while the kids sang was priceless.

Thoughts of my Mom have been with me for the last couple of weeks. The lilac tree given to me 7 years ago when she died, is blooming right now. She would have loved the fact that we have a lilac tree planted in her memory.

One of my friends posted this as her Facebook status today: Here's to Great Women: May we know them, May we raise them, May we become them! Happy Mother's Day!

A week ago I had the opportunity to co-teach Relief Society with the Young Women's president. It was very thought provoking to sit there with girls and women from ages 12 to 95 in the same room. The beauty of youth and the wisdom and wrinkles of age sitting together.

The dreams yet to come of those young women mingled with the pain, the joy and the life experiences of the older women. I felt it all in that room that day.

Here is a tribute to my Mom I wrote a couple of years ago on Mother's Day: http://tgaytan.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post.html

On this Mother's Day I pay tribute to the women who touch the lives of others in so many different ways.

I hope you know that you do make a difference.

A Tribute to My Mom - Elsie Bowler Nielson

It's Mother's Day once again and I think about my mother who passed away five years ago. She was an absolutely delightful woman. I have very fond memories of her, not just from growing up as the youngest child in Boise, but many memories of her from my adult life as well.

This is a picture of her when she was in her early 20's.

To name a few things that made her special to me:

1. She was a great candy maker
2. She always talked to strangers
3. She was a wonderful letter writer
4. She was a great poet and writer in general
5. She had an incredible sense of humor and sharp wit
6. She loved her family very much
7. She always said to me, whatever decision I make is okay with her, as long as I'm happy
8. She adored my Father
9. She baked wonderful cinnamon rolls which I would come home to after school
10. She had a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ which she loved to share

I spent the weekend in Boise caring for her shortly before she passed away from Alzheimer's. Although I'm not sure she knew who I was and she couldn't talk much, when I tucked her into bed at night, she put her hand on my face and looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "pretty".

 

This is a lilac plant that was given to me by my step-daughters after she passed away. We have lovingly nicknamed it "Lc". It has spent most of it's years in a pot on the patio and this spring we found it a permanent spot in the backyard. Mom always loved turtles so we found a ceramic turtle which is at the base along with a butterfly.

If I could say anything to those of you who still have your Mothers around, it would be cherish the time you have with them, learn from them and love them.

 

Age 72

Mother's Day

The other morning I did something I seldom do, I burnt the toast. It wasn't too bad so I went ahead and scraped the black off into the garbage can. As I was doing that, I wondered if my Mother, who burnt the toast so often as I was growing up, had any idea that I would think of her when I burnt toast. I used to go to high school in the morning and the guy that sat behind me would say, "your Mom burnt the toast again." He could smell it in my hair.

I view my burnt toast incident as my Mother's way of letting me know she is always with me, even though she's been gone for four years.

The other thing she always did was hand wash my dishes whenever she came to town for a visit. I can't tell you how often I stand at the kitchen sink, washing dishes and remembering my mother.

Here is a picture of a pale yellow lilac bush that was given to me by my stepdaughters when my Mother passed away in 2004. My husband and I have lightly nicknamed the plant Lc, after my Mother. We talk about covering Lc from the frost and how is Lc doing.

This year Lc is full of fragrant blooms in time for Mother's Day. Mom - I love you, thanks for the memories!