My Mom

My mom has always disliked having her photo taken. She gets embarrassed every time a camera is on her and ends up looking away, rapidly blinking or awkwardly laughing. (Now I know where I get this from.) When I was visiting her this spring in FL, I had the opportunity to pull her away from working hard at her computer to come outside with me for 5 minutes of photos. I lured her by reminding her it was important for her to have at least a couple good quality photos for her business page. This was true and she knew it. I also (selfishly) wanted the opportunity to show her that photo taking doesn't need to be painful and to have some nice photos of my mom for myself... I mean, who doesn't want good portraits of the people they love?!

If you've met my mum, you know what I'm talking about. She's always looking to serve everyone she meets. She's fiercely strong, despite a hard childhood, and has raised all (5) of her kids to be independent and to stand up for what we believe in. Seriously, bless her heart for caring for me, a colicky baby, only 14-months after giving birth to my sister Mel.

She wasn't the mom who immediately came to our defense if we came home as kids saying someone was being mean or that we got in trouble. She always asked what we did first and searched for both sides of the story before launching the reaction we wanted. She taught us to support the underdog and to be inclusive of everyone when making friends. Bullies were never, ever tolerated (and never will be). She always worked hard to make sure our childhood was a better one than she had. She supported all of the sports, activities and fundraisers we were involved in and still does. My mom always told us to chase whatever our passions were and never made us feel limited in our career choices.

She's taken various jobs over the years, from digging graves as a teen to buy herself clothes to finally living her passion in health and wellness by massage therapy + essential oils. She invests so much time studying, taking classes and finding new ways to help her friends, family, clients and strangers on the bus to live a healthy life. If you're interested in learning about Young Living essential oils, feel free to connect with her here. She's a wealth of information.

I've learned many lessons from my mom over the years. Too many to count. She's a blessing to many, but especially to me and I'm so grateful to have her as my mother.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

P.S. If you are lucky enough to have an amazing mom (or mother figure) in your life, don't hold back in telling her how much she means to you.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you ladies!