My Mother, a most wonderful lady, brought me into this world 52 years ago. If I could have picked out a Mother, I would have picked her. Mom comes from a large German Catholic family in a small town on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri. There were a total of 10 children in Mom's family but Mother opted for a smaller family of three children. My Mother is now 77 years old. When she and my Father were married, they relocated to Long Beach, California, where they lived for five years and all of us kids were born. We moved back to St. Louis, Missouri in 1953, where we lived until I married and relocated to Houston, Texas in 1978. I relocated back to St. Louis in 2000, where I now reside with my Mother. My father passed away in 1975, from heart failure.

Mother, God Bless her, worked outside of the home, in addition to raising three children until 1983, when her company closed, and Mother retired. In 1991 Darrell, my oldest brother, went with God to the Gates of Heaven. Darrell passed away of Diabetes at the early age of 44. They say there is nothing more difficult than losing a child. She was devastated. She managed though, to carry on with her two remaining children, me and my younger brother, Ronnie.

Since living here in St. Louis with Mother, I have thanked God so many times for having her. I have found that on many occasions, she has been my caretaker. There have been many days, since being put on oxygen, that Mom has gone to pick up medication for me. We reside in a townhouse, so you can imagine the number of trips she has made up and down the stairs for me. She has truly been a Godsend.

As I said earlier, Mom is 77, so her driving is limited. Therefore there are times I am her caretaker, since her physician's office is closer into the city, and I take her for her visit. Last year, I took her to the hospital for surgery on her Carotid Artery, and spent 3 days with her. It's been a wonderful time in both of our lives. We can live together, help one another and love one another. I say God has truly blessed me by giving me, Mother.

We are now able to spend time together that we missed out on while I was in Houston. We go to Church together, pray together, shop together and do crafts together. Twenty years ago, while I was in Houston, I taught Mom, on one of her many visits with me, how to crochet. Now, twenty years later, we find ourselves still crocheting and doing needlepoint. Some of our crafts, such as afghans, are donated to our Parish Church. They sell tickets to raffle the items at our Church picnic.

I love my Mother, just as I love my brother, Ronnie. Sometimes I feel like I've been dealt a dirty hand, with my illnesses. Other times, and these are the important times, I feel like I've been blessed in that God has given me such a close-knit family. There isn't a time that one of us has a need, that the others won't do everything in their power to satisfy it. God has surely given me more than he has taken.

I love you, Mother.

          



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