Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women who have touched my life and who have in some way, some big, and some small, made me who I am.

Thank you to my Mother who has always loved me unconditionally, even in the times when I surely didn't deserve it. Thank you for always being my biggest cheerleader. Thank you for showing me that it's possible to go on, even when your whole world has come apart.

Thank you to my grandmother Vera for showing me the value of the elderly, and the ways in which they are underappreciated.

Thank you to my grandmother Geneva for teaching me how to dance, and how to laugh, and for sharing your great wisdom with me. Thank you for the days of just hanging out together and enjoying each other's company.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for being my friend and not just my husband's mother. Thank you for raising such a wonderful son and for teaching my sons, through his relationship with you, what a relationship between a mother and grown son can and should be. Thank you for being a wonderful grandmother to my boys. Thank you for making me a part of your family.

Thank you to my sister, Susan. We may not share blood, but we share much more. Thank you for being there for me through all these years. Thank you for being a wonderful aunt to my boys, and a wonderful friend to me.

Thank you to my sister-in-law Peggy. Although it has been 25 years since you were married to my brother, you never stopped being my sister-in-law, and my mother couldn't have asked to a more wonderful and loyal daughter-in-law. Knowing you are there for her gives me peace each and every day.

Thank you to my Aunt Nettie for showing me that strength and independence have nothing to do with gender or age.

Thank you to my Aunt Linda for always making me laugh and for showing me grace and dignity through adversity.

Thank you to my Aunt Valda for showing me what a career woman looks like, and for helping me to see that a woman can do anything she wants to do, if she just works for it hard enough.

Thank you to my cousin Karen for showing me that you can rise above a rough start to a bright future.

Thank you to all the women with which I work each day who give of their own time and their own hearts to help children who are not their own.

Thank you to all my wonderful girlfriends who ask me how I am, and really want to know.

Thank you to all the wonderful women in my life, both now and in the past. I love you all.