This Just In
Make it count.
In honor of Eva, Toni, Diane and Grace.
Greetings on this glorious Sunday and annual observance of the beloved Mom. You may be going about your usual Mother’s Day business… waking to fresh brewed coffee and lumpy pancakes, planting something colorful into a hanging basket and appreciating the attention of doting Dad (or Partner) and polite little people who call you Mom. You may also see or call your Mother. Hear her voice. Look her in the eyes a little longer and hope she feels your gratitude. Pretty simple stuff, really.
Unless, you can’t.
Today, I’d like to honor the Mothers of 4 dear friends.
One who has passed long ago, but lives fully in the soulful eyes and loving heart of a daughter who carries her memory everywhere.
Another Mother who is missed everyday but taught her own daughter such capacity to love and care for others that it knows no bounds.
A Mother who is ill and surely wants life to return to normal as much as her daughter wants to be wrapped in her safe, strong arms.
Another Mother who fought bravely but found peace from her suffering this week and was laid to rest yesterday by a daughter who will ache for her forever.
I don’t know their Mothers very well. But I clearly see their legacy through my friends. These four women are the salt-of-the-earth. They embody integrity and spirit. You can see in each one of them the steady hand their Mother played in raising honest, good women. They have sweet, searching souls. Originality. A social conscience and voice. Grit and wit. A positivity and strength of character that draws people closer and makes a difference in the lives of others.
And, they are raising a new generation of the same, through which their own lives will shine.
Whatever you’re doing on this beautiful day, and everyday ~ make it count.
Happy Mother’s Day from JerseyMomsBlog.
Giveaway: Free Safe Driver Course with the Drive Safer Program!
When we read that motor vehicle accidents are the #1 killer of teens nationwide ~ more than drugs, homicides and suicides COMBINED ~ we were stunned. Reflecting back to high school, I remember several students who died from simple traffic accidents, including my first boyfriend who died as a newlywed at barely 30 years old.
Sadly, it was a situation that could have been avoided had the drivers taken some precaution. So when I saw this program I knew it would be a great message to spread to our Jersey Moms Community.
And what better way than to giveaway a FREE SAFE DRIVING COURSE! Enter below to win one free registration for the Drive Safer Course at MetLife Stadium. Your choice of the following dates: May 19 or June 9, 2013.
Drive Safer is a team of entrepreneurs committed to transferring professional driving experience to our teens. The founders are also parents, that have come together to try and solve one of the most disturbing problems in the US.The first time your teen is in a dangerous driving situation they should have the skills and confidence to control it and survive.
Check out WABC-TV coverage of the Drive Safer program and connect with them on Facebook too.
Good luck!
My Hometown
When I skipped in my denim overalls with the safety-pinned strap from my small, somewhat diverse private school to my new town’s public junior high, the transition wasn’t pretty. On the first day, the biggest obstacles weren’t social or academic but mechanical: cracking the code of my locker combination and covering books with advanced origami folding techniques before the dawn of the book sock.
Within a few weeks, I would think of the locker and book-cover challenges with nostalgia—however much they had made me sweat—as a group of 8th grade girls surrounded me to ask why I had called their friend a “f*#%ing whore.” I had no idea who these girls were or exactly what the phrase meant, but the fact that I wasn’t in my version of Kansas anymore was painfully clear. Like the book sock, anti-bullying legislation or even awareness didn’t exist, so as far as I knew, this was my problem to solve.
I became less naïve about the ways of middle school as the months passed, but this didn’t help me much in 8th grade when a case of mistaken identity put me in the crosshairs of the girl who sat directly in front of me in homeroom. It wasn’t me but a friend of mine who had denied her a piece of gum back in 7th grade, and now she wanted blood instead of Bazooka. She’d regularly turn around to say in a menacing whisper how she was going to beat me up after school. She never did, but the surges of fear still packed a punch. [Read More...]
Special Needs
I’ll Be There
In the car ride after the very first ultrasound of my first child, I distinctly remember being at a stoplight and hearing the Mariah Carey rendition of “I’ll Be There” on the radio. That time it brought me happy tears, knowing that I was given the treasured opportunity to do just that for my unborn, [...]
Family
Make it count.
In honor of Eva, Toni, Diane and Grace. Greetings on this glorious Sunday and annual observance of the beloved Mom. You may be going about your usual Mother’s Day business… waking to fresh brewed coffee and lumpy pancakes, planting something colorful into a hanging basket and appreciating the attention of doting Dad (or Partner) and [...]
Food
Chef Dad
There is a cartoon hanging on our fridge in which a man is looking inside a refrigerator. The fridge is filled with butter, on every, single shelf. The bubble above his head says, “Hon, where’s the butter?” Oh, the irony! Yes, dear reader, I can relate. My husband is a wonderful cook, but his schedule [...]
Sports
Yes, that is my son…
Yes, that is my son: the one in right field playing with the dandelions instead of watching the pitcher. Yes, that’s my boy wearing his baseball glove on his head. Yes, that’s my kid spinning in circles on second base instead of taking a lead. No, he didn’t play Little League last year. He just [...]
Need A Laugh?
What’s On Your List?
Any time someone is going to become a parent, they always have a plan on the kind of parent they will be. “I’m going to do (this)” and “I’m not going to do (this)”. I’ve actually had this discussion recently and realized my list has become longer than I thought, especially as my daughter gets older. Here’s [...]
NJ Fun
Giveaway: ANOTHER Family Pack of Tickets to Cirque du Soleil!
Take your family of four to this exciting Cirque du Soleil performance of TOTEM at Citifield on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 6:15 pm. TOTEM presents a fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind. Inspired by many founding myths, TOTEM illustrates, through a visual and acrobatic language, the evolutionary progress of species. TOTEM has received numerous [...]
