Late last night, i noticed many of my friends had changed their profile picture to their mom for Mother's Day, and I decided to do the same. I went through my Facebook albums to find a great picture, confident that there would be lots to choose from. My mom has, after all, been there through so many things. But somehow, between not living in Halifax in since fb combined with my generally adventure-oriented albums, I realized - to my surprise - that I have few recent pictures of my mom and dad up there.There is no good reason for this and I intend to change that.
One of the pictures I did find - the one I posted - was from when mom and her sister visited me in NYC in 2009 for a fabulous adventure shopping, exploring the city by foot and visiting the US Airways plane that had just ditched into the Hudson. Another was from France when, despite being in a wheelchair, she joined us for the commemoration celebration of our great-uncle who died during the war. She was a real trooper.
But this isn't about where we have been or the adventures we have had. It is about what a wonderful person and mother she is. She is a best friend to me and a guardian angel to more people than I can count. When new families would move to our neighborhood where we grew up, she would be one of the first people to welcome them and to help them settle in. On Christmas eve for years, she would take me with her to secretly drop off presents to a family that couldn't afford to buy presents. They never found it was her. She went above and beyond the call of duty in caring for her brother Donald, a diabetic who smoked and drank his way to several heart attacks and even more strokes. She was there to support her close friends when their marriages ended. She has helped families to cope with realities of alcoholism. She has worked for years to support different charities in Halifax, including Laing House, supporting people living with mental illness and Adsum House, a shelter for battered women, among many others, earning municiple recognition for her work. She and dad have welcomed 17 relatives and friends into our home to live with us when we were growing up. She fundraised for countless charities, including the Heart & Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Parent Teachers for French, the Canadian Diabetes Association and her church. She randomly bought wool for woman in nursing home that she had never met before. She brings food to people when they are sick or when a loved one has died. She was a long-time a companion to an elderly woman whose families wasn't able to visit much. She displays saint-like patience with our lives and gives all of us (especially me) wise advice I don't take nearly enough. And despite my resistance, all the good that is in me comes from her. I am who I am today because of my mother.
These stories doesn't even really begin to scratch the surface of all the amazing things my mom does, or the people she helps, or ways she spreads hope and kindness. But it gives you maybe an idea of how lucky myself and my brothers are to have her as our mom.
I don't have enough photos of two of the most important people in my life on Facebook and I intend to change that. But photos alone can't capture how wonderful a person she is or how much she has given to us and others. And the important thing isn't the number of photos, but in acknowledging all the great things she has done for so many people, including us. I love and admire you mom. You are a hero to me and so many other people and the world is better place because of you.
