Making Mother’s Day a Memory While Your Soldier Is Away

Posted by Teresa Steele Lydon on Monday, May 11, 2009, 0:15 | 91 views

It  never gets easier celebrating special days when one of your soldiers is away.  On this occasion of Mother’s Day, who was missing, was my husband.  Training with the Iowa Army National Guard at present, preparing with his unit for a possible deployment to Afghanistan in 2010.

I was raised without  much  tradition or special occasion.  My husband has been the one in our marriage to teach me the importance of celebration.  After 18 years of marriage, I’m finally realizing, more than ever the importance of making the most of moments.  Therefore,  I proposed to my children that on this Mother’s Day we were  going to make a memory!  I was taking the initiative which normally my husband would do, and they were pleasantly surprised and said yes, with just a hint of reluctance.  But hey, it’s Mother’s Day!  Let’s have fun!  Go for a drive!  Meet some new people!  See some new sights!  And take some family photos!

We as a family are still discovering this Heartland of the Midwest and   made  new friends who now refer to us as their “City Cousins”!  Their way of saying we’ve been adopted into their family.  Terms of endearment.  Doris and Cheryl were having their  family reunion.  Come to find out they live very close to Stone City, Iowa.   So we made it a plan to go on a beautiful Sunday drive out that way and stop in at their gracious invitation.

I  woke up to breakfast being made for me, the fragrance of lilacs cut fresh in a vase on the table, surrounded by my beautiful four children all growing up, waiting for me to read their carefully selected cards with words especially written by each one of them.

At first, all I could do was LAUGH and cry cause I felt so special!  I was feeling quite a bit overwhelmed by all the special attention.  Each note meant so much, as my  relationship with each child is so unique.  Joel  is  very reserved in his communications whose actions speak louder than his words.   Anna is very tender hearted towards all creatures big and small, that includes people too.  Josiah so very proud to have written his name in ink in cursives without slipping! And that he scored twice playing soccer yesterday!

But the icing on the cake came from my oldest son who is also a soldier and home now for the first time in five years on Mother’s Day.  A card with a picture of a single flower on the front.  On the stem was written ’strength’, on each petal was written “Wisdom, Courage, Guidance, Generosity, Caring, and in the center LOVE’.  That was almost too much, that I couldn’t read any further.  So I asked him to read his words written aloud.  “Those are all character traits that I’ve seen in you.  One of the greatest joy’s of my life has been to  be and grow together with you and it’s amazing to reflect on the journey and see how far we’ve come.  I’m especially proud of you for the decision you’ve made this year and the incredibly hard work that you have put in that has excellerated growth in you.  You are not the same person that you were a year ago.  You are now a bold, confident leader and a success.  It’s only a matter of time before all the aspects of your life will reflect that.  Thank you for keeping me inspired.  Keep moving forward and I’ll be with you 100 %.  To my beautiful Mom – You are my example, my inspiration, my hero.  Happy Mother’s Day, Love Jason.”

Could a mother ask for any more in the moment?  I think not.

But I got MORE…and I look forward to posting our family photo that we took today, if I can figure that part out…if at all possible.

Count every blessing.  Include your children in all your family decisions.  Stay in communication with each one of them.  Teach them how to communicate.   Have weekly family meetings around the dinner table.  Most importantly, take the time to listen to each one and learn how each  is different.  Don’t compare one with the other.  They are all expressly unique!  Grow them with respect and they will become your closest friends.

Thank you for taking a moment to take a glimpse into our family life.

Wife of a Soldier

Teresa Lydon

http://TeresasChocolate.com (Home of the Healthy Chocolate!)

Home Based Business Entrepreneur, Home School Mom

Will help and support women where help is needed most.  Sometimes you just need a friend.