Day 27: The most important work

I started thinking a few weeks ago and realized that this is not only Mom's "big year" but my "big year" too. I turn 30 this year. That means I am half as old as Mom this year. It also means that she was about my same age when I was born. How can this be? I have half as many kids as she did at my age and she was only one year younger than I was when she got married. She always seemed like such a pro and so experienced by the time I came around. Tell me Flori, did you feel like the guinea pig? I think Mom just has that natural knack for mothering and all things homey.

Mom was always so good at being a homemaker that I just figured that was the only thing she ever wanted to do. Going to college really opened up my eyes. I studied things I was passionate about and saw different opportunities in the world and suddenly realized that motherhood was a choice and sacrifice and not some obligatory or blindly assumed role.

We have a brilliant mother. She speaks Spanish, speaks English better than most (she could totally pass for an English major), she is good at math, and is clever and funny. On top of that, she is one of the best in her true field, home economics. I know that she has never played the role of the martyr in being a stay-at-home mom but I also know that if she had chosen otherwise she could have taken her life in other successful directions.

Our mother knows a lot of things, but most importantly she knows this:
"The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes."

- Harold B. Lee

We all know that Mom really wanted to have 20 kids; and if anyone could have done it, she could have. I've often thought about my role in the family as one of the kids on the tail end of the family. As a child I took having a big family for granted. I don't think I ever realized the sacrifice that was involved to have so many children.

Mom told me the other day that she didn't start feeling stressed out until #5 came along. I'm just grateful that she went on to have 3 more children, and that I made it into the world and into this family. I have learned so many things from my parents and brothers and sisters that have shaped my life and helped me to grow and become better. Thank you, Mom, for choosing to be a mother and to have a family and also for choosing to be involved in our lives the way you were (and are).