Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

Happy birthday to my wonderful Mother, who turns 72 years young today!!!

She's in Florida right now…enjoying the sunshine and warmth and easy living…I don't think there's a day that's gone by recently where she hasn't called me and said, "Thank you SO much for introducing us to Fort Myers!" - because, as you know, I am first and foremost an EXPERT on all-things Florida and Fort Myers-related. I'm starting to think that wintering in sunny southern Florida is going to extend her life by another twenty years…which could be pretty awesome.

She's always been a pretty cool mom. She taught us early on to be strong…to be independent…and to go after life with gusto and passion. She set the bar pretty high while we were growing up, and my siblings and I learned pretty quickly that we did NOT want to disappoint Mom…either with our actions, our grades, or our words. We were given the tools to make our own decisions, and we were also given the grace to learn from our mistakes, and deal with the consequences, which I think is a fantastic lesson to pass on to all of our children.

Mom's always had a way of making people feel comfortable, and I like to think that she's passed that down to me. She has always been gracious to everyone visiting her home - young and old - and she has a knack of putting people at ease. I remember never being embarrassed at bringing my friends home from school to introduce them to my folks, as my folks were "cool."

She's not perfect…she drives me CRAZY with her incessant need to constantly move furniture around, even in my OWN home…but I guess that's what makes her human and lovable. She also seems to have a strange and weird obsession, bordering on "hoarding", of earrings. I don't think I've ever seen her wear the same pair twice. It's rather interesting, as my daughter seems to have inherited every trait that my mother possesses…making me somewhat of a "sandwich" between the two generations. This could be a bad thing, if I didn't love my Mom so much…or my daughter, for that matter.

Anyways, happy birthday, Mom! We are looking forward to flying down to Florida this weekend to see you and Dad, and to enjoy that gluten-free dinner you're preparing for us Saturday night. Maybe we'll pick up some ice cream from the Love Boat, and we'll make a belated birthday party of it.

We love you - and miss you!