MY MOTHER

She nourished me with her own blood from conception through birth.  She has nourished me with her spirit ever since.
She loved that scrawny squalling little 'blue baby' and kept me alive.  She prayed and an angel touched the hole in my heart that wasn't supposed to be there and it closed up.
She held me and rocked me and walked the floor with me.  She wept and prayed, wept again and prayed some more.
She shared her other daughters with me. 
She read to me the classic books of childhood, and taught me to read.  She understood my anguish over Polly Pepper's stove and rejoiced with me over happy endings. 
She gave me art, precious gift, so very very precious a gift. 
She loved me at my most un-lovable.  She loves me still. 
She made sure I was able to go to college.  She taught me to use my wings and prayed when I used them to fly away. 
She showed me how a woman can ride like a Comanche, tangle with barbed wire, and never even wince at the resulting wounds.  She allowed, encouraged, horseback riding and never EVER told me I couldn't. 
Her voice soared in song.  She gave me music, sweet beautiful gift. 
She drove, and drove, and drove - countless miles to ensure bonding with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. 
She stayed up more countless hours stitching special clothes. 
Her authority was superceded only by God, although I don't remember any disagreements between the two. 
She cried the day Jack Kennedy died. 
She knows and loves my soul, approves of my spirit, applauds my successes, hugs me through my failures, grieves for my losses, loves me through it all. 
She told me, tells me, that I'm too intelligent to ever be bored. 
She turned me loose outside and wondered audibly at bathtime how much was dirt and how much was tan. 
When I was old enough she gave me summer space, which perhaps saved her sanity as well as mine.
She rejoices in my family.
She taught me to make an awesome pecan pie and to not neglect the blackeyed peas and greens on New Year's Day.  She shares family traditions with me so I will be prepared to share them with the young'ns.
She showed me that no matter what the world throws at you, it's your own kindness that matters. 
She taught me to protect my own self.  Not that I learned it all that well, sigh.  I do, however, know how to take care of  myself, which is not exactly the same thing.
If I asked her a question she told me to go look it up.  THEN maybe we could talk about whatever it was. 
She wanted me to go to Law School, long before all the aptitude tests and interest inventories said so too.  Maybe one day I will. 
She has high standards which I don't always live up to but I do always give it my best shot and that's what counts most. 
She knows what tears my soul to shreds, what pierces the thick steel walls I surround myself with, and is gentle with me.
My mother has other daughters, this is true.  I have only one mother.  I am one of hers; she is my only.
I love you Mom, quite very much.  Thank you.