My Forever Cheerleader

Many of you have told me lately how much you admire my strength.  Well, I come from strong stock!

My Daddy was a career Army officer, a Davidson College graduate who put himself through school on academic and ROTC scholarships while also playing college football.  He prided himself on being self-sufficient, and was a firm but calm parent and role model for me and my brother.

My Mama was a high school beauty queen (voted Senior Superlative: Most Attractive) with a friendly, outgoing spirit; my precious daughter has her Nana's personality.  She had a big role to play as an officer's wife, attending endless military functions, hosting coffees, and packing up every few years for a move, all the while keeping us in line - most of the time ;)

They were high school sweethearts <3

Here are two of my favorite pix of them:

We've had our rough times, as most mothers and daughters do - just ask my OWN precious thing about that ;) - but have remained close, through many of life's trials.

These two raised us while traveling the world per Daddy's inevitable regular repostings (Alaska, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, back to Texas, North Carolina - where we lived near Mama's parents while Daddy served in Vietnam, Colorado, Indiana, Belgium, and finally Georgia).  I'm a social studies and geography nerd because of my life experiences.

When Daddy passed, my brother and I worried a lot about Mama.  Would she really be okay?  How would she handle living in the house alone?  Would she be able to take care of her finances, the house itself, the yard, etc.?  Would she retreat inward or seek solace among good friends and her church?

HOW could we have EVER doubted her steely determination to "soldier on" with her life???  And I know it's not been easy... at all.

My Mama is a truly amazing woman; I can't BEGIN to share in how many ways.

She has always been, and continues to be, my most fervent cheerleader.

I KNOW it hurts her to see me go through this difficult period, I hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes; I have my own daughter, with her own health issues, for whom I'd give ANYTHING to bear type 1 diabetes and a hearing loss in her stead.  Nevertheless, my Mama is there, always.  To listen to me weep and complain, to pep me up on down days, to love me always, regardless.

She means the world to me, she is my mother, and my best friend <3

So I wore Bertha today... to make her feel less like the mom of a cancer patient.

AND, so she can admire the wig that will be HERS once this ordeal is over :tup