My Momma: 1st EVER Thankful Thursday Post

I've decided to have a feature post every week & decided I wanted to dedicate it to whatever I am thankful for. I have A LOT to be thankful for & thought this was a GREAT way to express that. I'm sure it will vary every week from anything from my family and friends, to that fantastic get-away I might get the chance to go on, to the best purchase we ever made (our memory foam bed) :).

This week I want to write a feature on My Momma!

My Momma

I'm a Momma now. I have been for 2 years and 10 months. Something changes in you when you become a mother. I got a phone call yesterday from one of my VERY good childhood friends, that recently found out she was going to have a beautiful baby boy. She was wanting advice on what she should do regarding a certain situation & it amazed me to think of how my advice before becoming a mother would have been different than what I gave her. My sweet little angel called me "Momma" for the first time last night. I call my mother, "Mom," but in my heart she is my Momma. I hope that this post helps anyone reading it to 1) Appreciate all Mommas and 2) Help Mommas appreciate themselves.

Mom & my Sweet Baby Kylee Jo @ her 2nd Birthday!

I want to give you a little background on my Momma. She does not drive. She helps my Dad with EVERYTHING. She is the facilitator during ALL arguments. She is a supporter. She is dependent, yet independent. She is shy around anyone except her close friends & family. She LOVES Alan Jackson, old westerns, cop shows, Dr. Pepper, old country music, her dog Wicket & Christmas music. She is a hard-worker. She is trusting, to a fault at times. She is misunderstood. She undervalues herself. She is mega laid-back, until she gets REAL mad. She puts up with a lot, from all of us. She perseveres no matter the situation. She is my Momma.  

My Momma saved my life when I was probably 5 or 6 years old. I had eaten a piece of hard butterscotch candy. My Dad would get really mad if we ate hard candy, because he was scared we were going to choke on it. Well, this certain day, it got caught in my throat. On the inside I was panicking, but I didn't want to get in trouble, so I started walking to my room & was going to go back into the closet. I don't know why, but I remember - plain as day that's where I was going. I barely got into the hallway, when Mom said: "Heather, what's wrong?" I couldn't talk. The candy was lodged in my throat. I saw panic come across her face & then the panic REALLY set it for me. Without so much as a thought, she got behind me & performed the Heimlich Maneuver. The candy came out, & she hugged me so tight I thought she'd never let go & silent tears ran down my face. I was SO young. All I know is at that moment, I didn't understand everything that was happening....just that it was significant.

I unconditionally love my brother and sister, but we are all 3 COMPLETELY different people. We share some of the same interests and traits (especially being hard-headed). Somehow my mother knows how to listen to all of us, understand where each of us are coming from, tries to explain where the others are coming from, & stays neutral. I haven't quite figured it out. If you know the 3 of us AND our tempers...you'd know it is a HUGE task. 

The Family 2 Christmases ago. 

Mom had episodes where she had seizures when we were younger. She went to a doctor & he prescribed her medicine that has regulated them now. My Dad is on crutches. He has been since I was in 2nd grade. I remember waking up one morning to Dad falling. My Mom was having a seizure on the floor and Dad was trying to get to the phone to call 911 without his crutches. His reaction was to just jump up and go to the phone, but he was physically incapable. That must have been shortly after he started walking on crutches. He did get there, after falling about 6 or 7 times. He was so out of breath, he put me on the phone. I answered the questions and if I didn't know the answer that the 911 responder asked - I would ask Dad. 

I also remember when my little brother was in Kindergarten maybe. We were playing in the back room, which was our Den & Chance threw a cookie sheet at me like a frisbee & he gashed my eye open. When I went up to touch it my hand was completely covered in blood & I FREAKED out. I went in the house HYSTERICAL. Chance was scared too. He ran over to my Grandma's and told her that he killed me! Mom was getting frustrated with me b/c it really was only a little bitty gash & I wouldn't calm down and talk to her. I told her I wanted my Daddy & I remember her saying: "What is he going to do." That was maybe said in the midst of a heated moment, but I very much APPRECIATE it now.

Mommas are the ones that, in the middle of dealing with their own lives, fix the owies, put up with the mean remarks in the morning when their trying to wake you up, makes sure there is food on the table, clean clothes to wear, is your friend when you feel like no one else is & I said I wanted my DADDY. I'm not sayin' Daddy didn't do some of those things too. Believe me...He'll get a thankful post too, but I COMPLETELY get it. 

I am ever so thankful for MY MOMMA! Words will not ever be able to express how much I LOVE her. The thing is, we will NEVER understand completely understand all the people in our lives. I still don't understand why she just doesn't go and get her license! I just want everyone reading to think about those ROCKS in their life, whether it's their Momma, a teacher, friend, boss....whoever it is, and know that they have sacrificed something for us, love us, believe in us more than others may, and we've probably hurt their feelings or under-valued their importance in our lives, at one point or another. Appreciate them! Our Maker puts the people that are in our lives there for a reason. BUCK UP BABY & go give'm a hug or phone call. They deserve it!