How Do You Thank One of the People Who Gave You Life?

With a surprise 60th birthday party that's how. Yesterday my family and I had a surprise for my mom's big birthday...yup she's 60. I am so lucky to have such a young and vibrant mother - we're actually only 22 years apart. Part of the invite that was sent out asked people to think about stories that they have about my mom as part of a life review for her and for them. Unfortunately we ran out of time so that part of the party didn't happen but I did have some stories to share about my mom. This morning I thought that this would be the perfect place to share them.

My mom and I have not always gotten along - I think that's pretty typical for mothers and daughters. I was a difficult and lazy teenager and she was a busy working mom trying her best to raise me with the nearby help of my step-father and the long distance help of my dad. Now that I think about it difficult is probably putting it mildly. I went away to college instead of going local and living at home which was really the turning point in my relationship with my mom. Once we got some space and distance it was easier to build our "friendship". That's what we have mostly a friendship, we have talked about this recently and how when she tries to act like a mom I get annoyed...

Over the years we have had many adventures together. She took me to Barbados, Maine, Norway and Denmark (to see my HS sweetheart who was there for the summer), and most recently to Italy on just us trips. I took her to Richmond to a NASCAR race and to the Indy 500. We met Florence Henderson, Jim Caviziel and John Corbett but the highlight of the Indy 500 was that in Nordstrom the woman behind the counter looked at my and said "you call her mom?". She thought that we were sisters. YUP my mom looks THAT good. We still giggle about it. We drove to San Fran together when I moved from Michigan - that is a trip that neither of us will forget. I was in a hurry to get there and start my new life and she wanted to take her time to see some of the sights along the way OH AND there was a meowing cat with a heart condition in the back seat. One of the best stories from that drive was when Jake, the cat, escaped from the first hotel room while my mom was doing the laundry. I had stepped out to make a phone call and when she turned her back he slipped out of the room. We could hear him meowing in the hotel hallway but it took a while to figure out where it was coming from...behind the Coke machine outside of our room. I did finally coax him out but he really liked it back there. She thought that I was going to be mad about it but it was pretty funny to hear the distant meowing and trying to find him.

She came to visit me so many times in California. We even drove from Nor Cal to So Cal with a GPS that she had named "Miss M" (it was a Magellan). After a while Miss M needed to be silenced or there was no guarantee we were going to survive the trip HAHA. My time in California was not easy on me for so many reasons and in turn it was not easy for my mom here in NY. She noticed that I had started to change into someone that she was having a hard time relating to and who did not resemble the daughter she knew. I called her in hysterics so many times and when my ex wanted to break up with me after my moving to Nor Cal somehow my mom was the one that had to break the news to me. I cannot even imagine how she must have felt that morning and any other time I called her with my heart broken and dreams crushed. Once my relationship ended and I told her I wanted to come home to start my life over she could not have been more supportive. We worked on my resume and being a Director of Human Resources she had a lot of inside tips. The day that I called to tell her I am coming home was one of the best days of my life - I was coming home to be with my family and lifelong friends.

Labor Day Monday 2007 I crossed the George Washington Bridge into NYC with the same cat in the car and I was HOME. My mom told me that night was the first time that she had slept in years without worrying about me. I was actually in my childhood room right next door to her bedroom. Obviously two adult women living together after living such separate lives for 10 years was a bit trying on everyone. I reverted back in some ways to being the child at home. She would do my wash, cook me dinner and get whatever I needed at the grocery store. This situation lasted 9 months...I moved out in February and then our relationship was able to get back on track.

The same month that I moved out I talked my mom into doing her first half marathon with me in Baltimore. At first she was hesitant but I told her I would never set her up for failure and if I didn't think she could do it I never would have suggested it. I have blogged about that race before but one of the best stories of that trip happened in the first hour of our drive to the race. My mom loves grape Propel and she freezes it in bottles - well she went to open a semi-defrosted drink it blew up in the car. All over the driver's side of the car was purple liquid and through our laughter she looks at me and asks "Do you think that the car will always be purple?". She had just bought the car as her lease was up so it had just been detailed. I still laugh when I think about it. It is stuff like this that bonds us together as mother and daughter as well as friends.

My mom has volunteered at all the finish line of allof my local triathlons. Seeing her there as I finish a race is a feeling that I cannot describe. She cried with me when I finished my first triathlon in Sleepy Hollow as she put the medal around my neck. And she stood in the pouring rain for almost 4 hours at the Jarden Westchester Tri putting medals on everyone that crossed the finish line passing time until the most important medal of the day (to her) could be placed around the neck of the athlete she loves the most. We knew that it was going to be a dreadful weather day for that race so my mom asked me if people would mind being poked in the eye as she put their medals on so she could have her umbrella. The Saturday night before that race as my entire family sat shivering listening to Challenged Athletes speak and parents talk about losing their kids to ALS my mom sat next to me knowing that we had so much to be thankful for. She used some of that wisdom to finish her race in Toronto when she was freezing and could not take one more step...it was the first time we didn't race together but she did it! At the age of 60 my mom is planning her 4th half marathon in Altanta this March. She's meeting her friends from Canada there.

I could go on and on about the woman who gave me life and has helped to shape me into the person that I am. We all know that we cannot pick our family but if given the choice to pick my mom and my dad I would not change either one of them. My mom is a gorgeous, smart, kind, loving, warm, endurance athlete who I am thankful for every day of my life. She is my biggest cheerleader, my best friend and someone who celebrates life as it should be celebrated. Happy 60th Birthday Mom - I love you more than words could ever express. Thank you for everything - my life is what it is because of you.