His Mom

Nine years ago today heaven gained an angel.

Her husband called her Doe. My sweetie called her mom.

I waited too long to tell her thank you for raising the man that completes me.

She loved her children fiercely. When she learned that my sweetie and I planned to get married only 10 months after we met she wasn't crazy about the idea. After all, I had two young sons. She knew he would accept my boys as his own and help me raise them because that is the kind of man that she raised him to be. I know not long after we got married and maybe to some degree before, my boys and I became part of her family. She only wanted her son to be happy and I think she knew he was.

She had some quirks. She grew up in a large family and tended to hold on to the values that she was raised with. Her freezer may have held food that was more than a little past it's prime. Her living room furniture may have been encased in plastic to save them from wear (except that no one ever sat on them). She scrimped and saved and made due with what she had. Generally buying only what was needed. Except for her beautiful rings which her granddaughters now wear and keep close to their hearts.

She married her soul mate and he adored her. He lived less fully after she lost her battle with breast cancer. Her children are the best parts of her. Not only did I gain my own soul mate but also have friends and family in his siblings and their spouses. How do you thank someone for that? She gave me priceless gifts and didn't even know it.

Thanks Mom. So loved and so missed!