Bragging a Bit

My friend Gabriella and I had a long trip back to Colorado Springs this weekend, after an extended stay in Texas for our best friend's wedding.  (More on the wedding later!)  Long story short, our ETA moved rapidly from Sunday evening to Sunday night after a delay on one flight, then from Sunday night to Monday morning after our last flight was cancelled.  (To their credit, United payed for our hotel stay and meals and except for the fact we both had to get to work Monday morning, Gab and I had a blast!)  Anyway, when we arrived at long last in the familiar little Colorado Springs airport, a girl near me asked where I was headed.  I was a bit sleepy and the only thing, the one solitary word that came to mind was "home."

Isn't that a good word?  Really.  Say it out loud.  Say it as if you've been wandering and rushing about with strangers for a whole 24 hours after a week of crazy fun out of town and now all that's holding you from reaching that warm, inviting, special place is your checked luggage and a car ride.  It's a perfect word, I think.

But there's a word I like much better.  I have heard of the tragedy that is reality for some people, that when God is called their Father, they dislike Him a bit because of the poor example their earthly fathers have set.  I will say now that the rest of this post is operating on my personal experiences and understanding of the word "mom."  There, the preamble is over.  On to the bragging.  :)

You were so gracious to participate with me before; please do it once again!  Say "mom."  Say "mama" or "mum" or whatever you prefer to call your mom.  I think this word is among the most pleasant words I know and commonly use.  It is precious and sweet to me because it isn't just a title, it is the name of the woman who gave me life, loves me unconditionally, serves my family tirelessly in whatever way she can, sets an example for Michaela and me as well as others, and has taught or helped to teach me just about everything I know.

I would like to elaborate on a point I briefly brushed over in my last post.  I mentioned there that Mom is "always the one to do online research for cars and houses and things," but that hardly does her justice.  Every single time we have prepared to move into a new house, we all have our own tasks.  Chaela and I mostly stick to packing/unpacking boxes and helping with old house cleanup and new house setup.  Dad does all or most of the heavy lifting, naturally, in addition to packing and dealing with the garage.  Mom?  She has her hand in pretty much everything, but before any of our particular jobs even need to be started, she spends hours upon hours poring over MilitaryByOwner and other such sites, looking for just the right house to rent/buy.  It isn't an easy task by any means.  To be perfectly honest, I typically steer clear of the office altogether and beg not to be shown yet another maybe-this-is-the-right-one house, for fear I'll just get them all confused.  I still don't understand how she can keep all the information and exterior/interior pictures straight in her head!  That's got to be something close to a superpower.

I could go on for a novel and a half about all Mom does (trust me, I just deleted two full paragraphs so you won't be too overwhelmed to even glance at this post!) but let me just leave it at this for now.  My mom is truly astounding and I respect how well she is handling this house hunting on top of Dad being deployed on top of everything she deals with on a relentless, daily basis.

Thank you for reading this.  I mean come on, if no one does then what's the use of bragging?


[ The photo used in this blog post was taken just before Dad deployed by a lady in a company that does photoshoots for military families - for free, as a thank-you to those who serve our country.  What a blessing! ]