Happy Mothers Day

I want to dedicate this blog to the three Mothers in my life.  Thank you all for what you have done and what you continue to do.  There are no words to describe how important you are to all of us and we can never adequately tell you enough how much we all love you.  You are our rocks and our better parts.


Mimi-
I have only known Mimi for about 11 years and it would be easy to say we have a love/hate relationship. We love to hate each other.  In reality, there is nothing but love.  Mimi was raised in a very love filled, Yankee, Liberal, Catholic family.  I always wanted to marry a Catholic, something that was very important to me.  But as love tends to do, when I met Brooke, I didn't care much about that anymore.  I just wanted to marry her.  I will never forget the moment Brooke told me she WAS Catholic. I thought she had to be like the only one in Nashville.  She got that from Mimi.  I appreciate the fact that her mother raised her in the Church and without Brooke fully appreciating it, that aspect has become a major pillar in her life.  I also wanted to marry a Republican, she got that from her father.  Mimi cleans all the time, you can literally eat of the floors in her house. I have done this before, as have my girls.  She cleans before she leaves on a trip and cleans as soon as she gets home.  When all else fails, she cleans.  She irons her T-shirts, and she cooks almost every night.  In short- as much as we tease her, she runs a house we all aspire.  Brooke learned a lot from her, Mimi has been a great example for all things for Brooke. She truly is a wonderful person.  I won the in law lottery. I tease her, I fart, I make sex jokes around her (well I do that around everyone), I take pride when my girls burp, all things that drive her crazy yet, I think in some wild way it endears her to me.   For all of our differences, we have one thing in common and that is our love for Brooke.  I think, in the end, that is what Mimi loves about me and what I love about her the most.

MaMaw- 
Well I have already blogged about MaMaw before.  I can't very much write about her without getting emotional.   I  don't mean to repost but I feel it that strongly. Mom was always the one who held things together.  Mom, is our family's glue.  Mom, is our Rock of Gibraltar.  Through good times and through bad, Mom always kept us together.  To this day, I love going home because she always makes me feel welcomed.  No matter what stress is going on, no matter how minuscule of a notice I gave her, she wants to drop everything to take care of her baby boy.  She has been loyal to my father for almost 50 years.  She was there day after day.  While Dad busted his ass at work, it was Mom who who shaped us the most.  She got the nickname "Iron Mother," but to be honest- I am not really sure how??  I honestly don't remember her being that hard.  Sure she spank us if we needed- but it never seemed to get that far.  She used the line "if you don't stop crying, I will take you out to the car and give you something to cry about."  A line I used today, but I don't remember her doing it that often.  She had the Vulcan under arm grip that I am trying to perfect but she never used it much.  She was like the perfect Ninja Mom.  A Ninja doesn't have to show other people they are a bad ass- they don't have to kick ass to prove that they can.  People just fall in line because they know.  That was sort of my Mom.  And of course she knew the line that worked on me the most "Don't make me tell your father."  She knew I didn't want to let down my father. 

As I got older, I changed.  Mom did too.  She became more emotional- more caring.  She knew she had done her job- hopefully well.  She knew she needed to mold us less and love us more.  And I held the magic ability to make her cry at the drop of a hat.  After all, I am her baby boy.  I learned a lot from my Mom but I think her greatest lesson to me was that of how to be a great parent.  She gave a lot for Patrick and I but I think her greatest gift was that of loyalty.  She showed Patrick and I what it means to be the glue to hold a family together.  A glue that all families need.  If they do not have that glue, they will not succeed.

I said the best word for Mom was glue...I was wrong.  The best word for Mom, is love.  And you know what, she makes one hell of a MaMaw, if you don't believe me- just ask Caroline.

Brooke-
Wow, what do you say about a woman who has given you the greatest gifts.  She has given me my four girls.  Brooke has sacrificed her body and well being for my girls.  For 9 months she gave them safe and wonderful home and no matter what else was going on in our world, she protected them in theirs.  She put her life on the line for them before she ever knew them.  However, the greatest gift she has given me was unconditional love.  She puts up with my moods, my bs, my bad qualities, my ticks, and despite all that she still loves me.  I don't know why but she does.  This isn't about me though, its about her as a mother.  As everyone knows we have 4 girls under the age of 5.  With all due respect to the other mothers out there, I think our kids are the best behaved out there.  Seriously.  To have 4 kids that young, who are all so regimental they sleep anywhere, don't get out of bed, use pretty good manners, care about other kids, who are so well behaved when we go out to eat, don't throw fits, etc. it is amazing.  I am reminded of this all the time when I see them with other kids.  Our kids aren't perfect but Brooke has done such a good job raising them that even at their young age they are really good, caring,  kids.  They always look very well dressed, their hair is done, etc.  Brooke, to a fault, puts everyone else first. I would like to think I am a good father but I know that if that is true it is because of the lead I follow from Brooke.  While some of the most feared words in our house is "do I need to get your father," it is Brooke who really keeps things on the straight and narrow. I could write a blog about her if the subject was best friend, best wife, but this one is about her being a mother.  She is only 5 years into it but what a home run Mother she is.  (P.S. I made her cry with the card I got her).

Thanks to all the mothers in my life who have shaped me and continue to sacrifice for your kids.  To all the Moms who are no longer with us, we miss you, we love you, we will see you again.  There are a lot of jobs you can have in this world, none greater than being a Mom.