Things I’m Glad to have Learned from Mommy

>My mother is Elaine Brancato Foster. Her 80^th birthday will occur this year. At my age, I am both thankful and blessed to have two parents who are so wonderful and healthy, too. When it was my father’s turn to be 80, my mother and siblings gave him a surprise birthday party, which I was unable to attend. I wrote a letter to him for that day. (That letter is posted on this blog under the title “Honoring My Dad” in Older Posts if you’d like to read it.) I do not know of any similar plans for Mom. But ever since I wrote that letter for Dad, I have wanted to write something for Mom. Well, here it is two years
later and I am finally sitting down to this most joyful task!

First of all, I’m thankful that I call my mother Mommy. This may well have been one of my first lessons from her. Why does that make me glad? Because to me, mommy means comfort, love, warmth, commitment, safety. And perhaps that is because my mommy was all those things to me. And that is good enough reason to me for that definition.

Mommy taught me how to keep a house clean and tidy. And although as a teen I rebelled a bit (a bit?) against that teaching, I was certainly glad for the skills when I had my first apartment and then my first home with my husband.

And she taught me how to make a house a home by filling it with love and caring. What good would a clean house be if it were not a home?

Organization and list making is a big help to me to get tasks done, no matter how many there are. My mom is the best at both and taught me well.

Yet another essential life skill she passed onto me was her fabulous cooking ability. My family has been very thankful that I’m a great cook and we owe my early lessons to my mother.

I learned how to doodle by watching my mother doodle away while on the telephone or just lazily doodle while talking with a friend at the kitchen table. I am grateful because I love to doodle! Some people think it’s just a waste of paper. Not me. I think it’s a creative outlet and a way to keep us being creative when there’s nothing else to create!

Speaking of being creative, my mom has a terrific sense of color and style in the home. My parents’ home is absolutely beautiful and mostly because of her talent in that area. I must throw in here that my father is quite talented in this area, too. So I am thankful that they have both passed that gift right on to me. I hope our home will be as beautiful as theirs.

One of the greatest things Mommy taught me is to take care of friends. She is truly a doer of the Word of God. She is always preparing a meal for a friend, saying a prayer for another, offering a shoulder to cry on or lending a listening ear. In the days when she was driving, she was constantly taking a lonely person to lunch or one to a doctor’s appointment or to visit a mutual housebound friend. I cannot begin to list the many things she has done for her friends and neighbors over the years.

Mom is a dedicated worker and leader in her church. And well respected by all. She makes me proud and has taught me that church families need and deserve our time as well as our biological families.

My mother has a natural gift of hospitality and uses it generously. When she opens her home to guests, which is often, they are treated graciously. She was an example of a perfect hostess for me as I grew up.

My mother taught me the value and freedom of forgiveness and the importance of prayer as a regular part of our lives. She is an example of steadfast faith in our Mighty God, for which I am truly grateful.

I learned many things from Mommy. Without her example I would not be the woman I am today. And that would make me sad.

Thank you, Mommy. I love you.

January 15, 2009