10 or so things about my Mom

10 Things about my Mom:

1. She's one of the few people that are allowed to call me David.
2. She has asthetically-challenged, but very talented toes. She can pick things up with them and pull weeds with them.
3. Over the past 15 years she has kept a journal on her vacations, writing down everything they did, everywhere they stayed, and most importantly - where and what they ate.
4. My Mom was on the front page of the Detroit News when she met her father (my grandpa) for the first time as he came home from the war.
5. My Mom collects teapots. She has a bazillion of them.
6. My Mom loves just about every food in the world except for brussel sprouts.
7. My Mom keeps a journal of every book she's read and the author of the book. She reads about 75 books a year.
8. My Mom has cross-stitched for a long time. She has made us at least ten different pieces, including one about computers and a sampler for our wedding.
9. My Mom has been there for the birth of every one of her grandchildren and in the delivery room for three of them (Maddie, Emily and Ben).
10. My Mom has read the whole bible every year for the past 20ish years.
11. My Mom has told this crazy 'Peanut butter stuck in my mouth' story, complete with voice inflection and motions, since I was a kid. She told it during our car talent shows and a few months ago, she told it to my kids while sitting at Scoopy Doos eating ice cream. It never ceases to make me laugh.
    

Most of all, my Mom is the woman in my life by whom all other women are measured. I married my wife because I saw in Cathie the potential to have the kind of relationship my Dad and Mom have, and saw in Cathie the ability to be a phenomenal Mom to our kids, like my Mom was and is to us. My Mom loves her grandchildren so much treating each one as if they are her favorite. She listens so attentively to every story they tell her and treats each gift from them - whether it's a scribble, a picture or a special rock, as a treasure.

My Mom is a woman with a giant heart for others. I remember when one of the kids in my youth group had cancer, my Mom would send her gifts, never having met her. She is an amazing woman of God who has prayed for me daily. Beyond that, she prays for friends of ours that she barely knows. She is where I got my optimistic outlook on life. For my Mom, not only is the glass half full, but it's probably full of the most wonderful drink in the world and will be full tomorrow. All throughout my Mom's battle with cancer, she rarely complained and never asked for pity. She has always looked on the bright side, reflecting that things could always be worse, and would likely be better tomorrow.