Love Multiplies

(If anyone has a good picture of mom email me it. I don't think she'd appreciate any of the pictures I have. )

Today is my mom’s birthday. My dad is exactly one week older than my mom. I’ve always thought that was so cute. I wanted to write a few things about my mom too. As I thought about her I thought maybe I could talk about her amazing artistic talents. She’s REALLY REALLY into quilting and does some amazing pieces. When I was a teenager she sewed most of our formal dresses, and she taught me how to sew.

Maybe I could talk about her fight with breast cancer while I was in high school. She tried to stay positive through all her treatments. I remember she went wig shopping and came home with a short-haired blonde wig and a long dark-haired wig, neither which resembled her normal styles. I was a bit surprised by her selections but she said, “Everyone will know I’m wearing a wig anyway so I thought I’d try some fun styles.” I liked that; she is fun. She is an amazing lady with a lot of talents, but I thought I’d share a doodle she drew that she titled “Love Multiplies” and the inscription she wrote. I think this sums up one of the things I love best about my mom.

“This doodle resembles the Indian sculptures of the storyteller. When I first saw one of those figures, I thought it was a mother with many children and was thrilled at the concept because of an experience I had when I was younger.

I was taking a Lamaze refresher course in preparation for the birth of my fourth child. The teacher was expecting her second. Her reaction upon hearing that I was expecting Number four was “We are only having two children. We don’t want to have to divide our love between more than two, it wouldn’t be fair to the children.”

I was literally speechless. Didn’t she know love multiplies? It doesn’t divide or subtract, it adds and multiplies. The more you give it away the more you have to give. So this piece is dedicated to my mother and all those she has taken in and loved, and all her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She taught me that ‘Love Multiplies.”

My mom truly personifies this principle. She has a great talent of taking in and loving those who need it most. When I was a teen-ager we were a foster family for several sweet babies who were waiting for a permanent home. We even had two pregnant young girls live with us for awhile. My mom loved those girls like her own and still keeps in touch with them. She was a pediatric hospice nurse for quite some time. You have to be a special person for something like that. Now she gets to love a sweet little boy born with many disabilities.

I am grateful for my mother’s example of love. She is so fun to be around and helps make everyone feel a little better about them self. I wish she'd come visit me soon!

Happy Birthday Mom!