FOR MOM, WITH LOVE, PART TWO

It's sad that we never think to share favorite memories about people who are important to us until after they are gone. Case in point-my last blog. In honor of my mother's birthday, I would like to share some fond moments we have shared.
One of my mother's favorite holidays is Christmas, so I have many memories from that time of year:

• She always baked goody packages for her friends and my sisters and I were enlisted to frost dozens of sugar cookies.
• She made advent calendars out of old Christmas cards.
• She always picked the 'Charlie Brown' tree because she said no one else would pick it and the bare side could face the wall.
• While we were at school, she would put out all the Christmas decorations (leaving the tree because we always decorated it together). Upon seeing the decorations, I knew to look for several Christmas elves she had hidden in plain sight throughout the house.
• For several years, she and I made the traditional gingerbread house. The most elaborate of which was a three story mansion with field stone walls painted on with frosting (one of which we had to remake after our dog, Maggie, ate it-but that is a whole other set of memories).

She enjoyed having dinner parties and would often try unusual dishes. Once she tried to make a bombe (the ice cream desert, not the explosive device), but the ice cream was too soft so she flung the whole container into the sink. At the time things were quite tense, but now she and I laugh about it.

I remember going to Disneyland when I was 8. Everyone wanted to go in the Haunted House except me. Hello, people were screaming in there! I didn't know it was fake. Anyway, my mom told me to wait on a bench out front for them. She has since said the thought that she did that has given her chills, but I wasn't afraid at all.

On another trip to Northern Michigan, we left early because she wanted to take a scenic drive before breakfast. Long story short, my sisters and I complained endlessly because it took forever. Although I now enjoy taking them, the words scenic drive always make my stomach growl.

When I moved back home, I lived with her in her cozy 'cottage by a lake'. She had the most beautiful flower gardens. I have always envied her green thumb, a gift I was not blessed with. While living with her again, we shared many more special moments: Sunday evenings watching pbs and Mondays watching Antique Roadshow; stories about her youth I had never heard before; a wonderful dinner she cooked for my friend, Dana.

It was during this dinner that Dana pointed out something about my mother that I have always loved, even though I barely noticed it anymore. Dana heard my mom singing and commented about it. My mother is always singing, whether she is playing music or cooking or walking through the house. And I have always loved it. Her voice is so much the soundtrack to my life. She has even made up songs for us that my sisters and I remember to this day. And I am blessed with the same love of song. I don't sing nearly as much (or as well) as she does, but when a song starts playing that I love, I will belt out a few notes.

There you have it. Those are but a few of the numerous great memories I have. I am so proud to say that Marjorie Lightner is my mother. She has such a wonderful soul. And even though I live thousands of miles away, I can feel how much she loves me. Thank you, Mom, for being the person you are. I love you.