My Mom

If you were to ask me who my best friend is, I would, without a doubt, tell you my mom. Just like any best friends, my mom and I have arguments and get mad at each other. But if I ever have a problem and need to talk it out with someone, or if something exciting happens and I can’t wait to share it with someone, my mom is always the first person I go to. My relationship with my mom is a rare one. We can laugh and cry together, and even when we are mad at one another, I know that she will always be there for me.

When I was little, my mom would buy us matching dresses from a catalog. We loved to go shopping together, and still do! My mom always wants me to look cute and stylish, and I probably let her dress me longer than most girls, but she has always made sure I was dressed nicely. Although, one occasion I remember vividly when she made me wear something that she thought was cute and I thought was horrible. When I was in kindergarten, I had a big, fluffy dress. I mean, this thing was as fluffy and frilly as it gets! It looked like a dress a southern belle would wear back in the 1800’s. I actually wore it later in the year when I played Miss Muffett in our kindergarten play! My mom held me while I cried outside my classroom. I was so embarrassed about having to wear that fluffy dress and mom just thought it was the cutest thing. She has since apologized for the emotional trauma she caused me.

My mom and I love to have a good laugh. I remember once when I was about 16 or 17 and I wanted my mom to highlight my hair. I had everything ready to go and really wanted her to do it that night. Mom, on the other hand, was tired and wanted to go to bed. I had already put the cap on, which is a plastic shower-cap looking cap that completely covers your head. We got into a heated argument because she had said she would do it and I wanted her to do it then. I was very upset and was angrily fussing at her when she just started laughing. The fact that she was laughing made me even madder, but she was laughing so hard that it was difficult not to start laughing too. Once she gained her composure, she said that I just looked so funny arguing with her with that cap on my head! Whether it’s doing a funny dance in the kitchen, or wearing an elephant hat in a store, we always find something to laugh about. Getting older, I’ve taken on much more responsibility and that makes life all the more serious and stressful. Knowing that I have my mom to lean on and laugh with is a tremendous help and blessing. I don’t know what I would do if I was unable to talk to my mom every day.

Over the years, I’ve had the watched my mom become more and more devoted to her daily Bible reading and prayer. She sets an amazing example through her devotion to prayer and studying God’s word. I love to find her notes of encouragement on my bed or in my car. She always seems to know exactly when I need them most.

Obviously, just like most others, my mom taught me many important things, but my mom has taught me many things that only a special woman can. She has taught me how to be hospitable and courteous. She has taught me proper etiquette and tact. She has taught me how to act like a lady, but still be strong and independent. She has shown me what a good mother and wife looks like. Through my mom’s life experiences, she has been able to give me advice on things that only she could understand. There is a lot of advice that I wish I would have listened to when she gave it to me a few years ago. My mom had to put up with my attitude and grumpy ways for a good bit of my teenage years. I know it was hard on her because we had such a close relationship and then all of a sudden I just hid out in my room all the time. I’m glad my mom doesn’t hold a grudge or stay bitter or hurt for very long because, even though I’m stupid sometimes, I always need my mom! Things are much different now. I love hanging out with my mom! Maybe I can make up for my stupid teen years now! I hope I can be as good a mom as my mom is to me. If my daughter thinks of me with only half the respect, love and gratitude as I do of my mom, I think I will have succeeded.

My Dad

There are so many things I could write about my dad, I don’t even know where to start! My dad and I have always had a very special relationship. Growing up, my dad and I did many things together. But dad made sure it wasn’t just things he wanted to do. He has always made an effort to show interest in and support the things I love. I have tried to do the same with the things he loves, one of those things being hunting. I remember the first time my dad took me hunting. My mom, being the “worry wart” that she is, did not want me to freeze out in the cold and, in turn, piled on the clothes. I had on more layers than Aunt Sherri’s 7 layer salad! It was all I could do to breathe, much less walk. I couldn’t even talk because of the scarves and hats. Dad walked in the room, ready to go, and I just stood there with tears streaming down my face. Then, mom decided to peel a few layers off so I didn’t look so much like the Michelin man. So, hunting isn’t exactly my thing, but I had, and still have, a great time just being with my dad. The most recent hunting trip my dad and I took last season was also a memorable one. Not because we got a big buck, but rather, a big laugh. It was just dad and me on this occasion. I tried to convince my sister, Sarah, to go but she had already gotten a deer and insisted that it was my turn. So off we went into the woods. Dad and I had been sitting in the shooting house for about an hour. Just sitting, waiting and watching. The sun was setting and it was starting to get a little darker. Everything was quiet when, all of a sudden, this bird flew into the shooting house through the small opening right behind my head. Well, of course, I screamed and commenced to flailing and flapping my arms all around until the bird flew back out. Dad looked over at me like I’d lost my mind, and with an alarmed expression, I replied, “A bird just flew in here!” Well, I didn’t really know if he was going to be mad or not, but when he burst out in laughter, we both just sat there and laughed.  Needless to say, after all the commotion, we didn’t see very much wildlife, but Dad didn’t seem to mind. 

One example of Dad making an effort to do things that I enjoy would be our annual trip to the Holiday Market. I can remember Dad checking me out of kindergarten early to take me to the Holiday Market in Montgomery. I thought it was the coolest thing to get out of nap time to go shopping with Dad.  My dad is NOT a shopper and isn’t the type to go shopping with mom for clothes or groceries or anything! But when dad took me to the Holiday Market, just us two, it made me feel more special than I’m sure he ever imaged. We have gone to the Holiday Market every year since, and I feel so proud and special walking around a civic center full of ladies with my dad.

Another example is when I started to bake and sell “Hannah Banana Bread.” I was about eleven or twelve years old when I began baking banana bread. My dad helped me print labels to put on them that said, “Hannah Banana Bread” and helped me by selling them to the secretaries at his office. He encouraged my hard work and one time asked me to bake banana bread at church for one of the meetings he was chairing. I brought all my ingredients to the church, mixed everything up and put it in the oven to bake during the first half of the meeting. When I took the bread out, it looked perfect, but I cut into it and it was runny mush. The ovens at the church were much different than mine and it cooked the bread too fast. I was so upset and began crying when dad came into the kitchen to see if the bread was ready (I really don’t cry that often!). He was nothing but compassionate and understanding. I was afraid he would be frustrated that he didn’t have anything to serve at the meeting, but he assured me that it was no big deal. After the meeting, he took me to the mall to a music store and we each bought a CD. I remember buying an Alan Jackson CD. Dad and I deemed “Living on Love” by Alan Jackson our song a long time ago. I’m not sure exactly why or when we decided it would be our song, but every time I hear it, I think of my Dad.

I could go on and on with stories about my dad and me, but there simply isn’t enough room to do so.  It’s so cliché, but it really is the little things that mean the most. The little things that my dad has done, and continues to do, make him a great father and role model. When he shows up at my work to bring me lunch or just to say “hey,” or the little notes he leaves for me, or when he sends me a postcard, even though I live with him, or when he takes the time to talk to me or listen when I need to talk, or when he comes to a midget ballgame to see me coach a bunch of little cheerleaders for twenty minutes, or when he calls me sugar and tells me he loves me every night and I know that he really means it with all of his heart.

Two of my dad’s favorite heroes, I guess you would say, are John Wayne and Robert E. Lee. My dad reminds me of both of these men. Like Robert E. Lee, my dad is wise, courageous, loyal and a true gentleman. Like John Wayne, he is strong, blunt, stern, and he definitely has grit! But the most important trait found in my dad will outlast all the good times, memories and other honorable attributes. He is the godliest man I know. I don’t know many people who can say that about their father, but my dad lives the life of a true follower of Jesus Christ. When someone talks about seeing Jesus lived out in someone’s life, that’s my dad. Of course he has flaws, as does everyone, but in everything he does, he genuinely seeks to follow the Lord. He aims to honor the Lord in everything he says and does. Every morning, when I see his pen, journal and Bible on the table where he had his devotions a few hours before, I am reminded of the great man that I am so privileged to be able to call my dad.

More than just family

I am now into my senior year of college and I am still living at home with my whole family. This doesn't seem that odd to me because most of my friends still live at home with their parents too. I suppose I'll move out eventually, but I'm in no hurry. This may make me sound like a girl who has no boyfriend, likes to hang out with her parents on Friday nights, and plays board games with the family for fun. And this would be completely true. =) I used to be a lot more concerned with my image and what people thought about me, but now I am coming to realize the most important things in life are right in front of me. My family has become one of my favorite groups of friends. Now, of course, I still have work friends, school friends and best friends that I enjoy hanging out with all the time, but if I ever find I'm at home on a weekend with nothing to do, it's perfectly fine with me because my family is there! I used to wish so badly that I had some friends to get an apartment with so I could move out. And, while that would be fun and I wouldn't mind doing that one day, I am in no rush to move out. I now realize that once I move out, I most likely won't move back in with my parents...EVER! So, since I've got the rest of my life to be on my own, I'm perfectly fine with living at home and enjoying the company of my family while we're all still living together. And that leads me to the point of this blog post. My family's birthdays are all very close together. My dad's- September 18; my mom's - September 27; my brother's - September 30; and my sister's - October 14. I have decided to write a blog post about each of them on their birthday, just describing how I feel about each one of them. I take so many things for granted and too often overlook the many blessings God has given me. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and I couldn't have hand picked a better one!