She Loved - When Lyrics Speak - Mother's Day

My mother and I have always, I think, had a good relationship. We didn’t go through a lot of the typical teenage angst between mother and daughter. There might have been a few several tense moments in the junior high years that usually ended up with one or both of us in tears, but we survived.

My mom and I are different in a lot of ways. I’m a lot more reserved than my mom. Just ask me about an NSYNC concert experience when I was 13. :) I wish I had more of her tenacity and gumption. And nobody knows how to love like my mom does. Yes, of course, she loves our family. But, the way she shows love for others is the way I really wish I was more like her.

My mom has spent most of her career working with special needs children. I got the chance to work alongside her one summer before my senior year of college. I soaked up the time knowing it would probably really be my last time living with my parents. That summer I got a front row seat to see her in her element. I witnessed the way she helped those kids and loved on them. Not only were they facing an uphill battle in terms of their mental abilities but who knows what they faced at home. It didn't matter, my mom treated them all the same. She wanted to help them to the best of her ability knowing that they left her classroom that summer better than they were in the beginning.

She has always been the one when she hears of people in need pitching in to buy clothes for kids at school or encouraging my brother and me to donate old toys. I confess I was not a willing participant a lot of times on the last point. I can remember many church camp trips when girls came home wearing more of Mom's clothes then their own because they ran out or forgot to pack something. She was always there pitching in helping whoever needed it.

For Mother’s Day, there’s definitely one song that comes to mind for my mom.