I know.. I'm lurking in the OLD threads.. But I missed this one, and I'm bored.. So 'ere we go! lol
I've always kinda 'adopted' many moms throughout my childhood/teen years. The main reason for that is my biological mother left my dad, sister and I when I was 4 years old. Due to her being unemployed and not having a roof over her head, my dad won custody (thank God!), one of the VERY few fathers to win a custody battle in those days, I hear. About a year or two later, my mom finally started to get her act together, and got visitation with us every other weekend. I know, this is a Mother's Day thread.. Hold your horses.. lol
Around the same time frame, my dad fell in love with, and married, Hilda. She's been more of a mother to me more than anything. And I'm not taking anything away from my biological mother, she was dealing with circumstances. Because Hilda has been such a driving force in my life, she's always been MOM. People kinda felt bad for us, having a step-mom and all.. I always felt privileged, I had two moms. 🙂 During my awkward late-childhood and pre-teenaged years, the bond between myself and my mom (Hilda) grew strong. We always talked, about anything and everything. It was mom who forced me to play football to 'toughen up her little man' (I was the GEEK of the school, and she wanted me to toughen up.. lol). And because there isn't an OUNCE of quit in my body, and even though I was the talent vortex* and the smallest kid on the team, I played all the way through high school.
Going through the later years of high school, I wanted to grow up.. I didn't want to be 'mommy's little angel' anymore. And because of that, I started pulling away from my mom and mother, naturally (believe me, this is a HEALTHY and NATURAL thing.. lol) My best friend at the time (Benny) and I hung out ALOT. Most of the time at his house, because we had a bit more freedom and alot less younger siblings. Due to this, his mom, (or 'ma' as I call her) became an adopted mom for me. Funny, the bond between that friend and I was so strong, that automatically the bond between myself and his mother grew as well. All the way to the point of her calling me one of her own. I was the ONLY one of Benny's friends that visited 'ma' during his time in Training Camp and during his tour in Iraq. I was the only one of his friends that would go to their house and help his parents scrape and paint the exterior (BTW, I am not, nor have I ever been, a painter). To this day, 12 years after first meeting 'ma', I still talk and visit her when I'm in town.
With that.. I'll end with this:
"Ma", you are the bomb! I thank you for bringing me in and accepted me when things got crazy. I love how you let Benny and I be 'boys', even though we were pretty freakin' stupid.. lol I pray your health gets and stays better. THANK YOU!!
Mom, thank you for being strong when you had to be. I love how you always support me in EVERYTHING I do, and how awesome your cooking is. I pray you overcome your demons, because without them, you are a beautiful woman, whom which I love dearly. I miss picking you up in a bear hug, and I miss hanging out with you. I forgive you for everything you put us through, and I love you.
Mommy, when others couldn't be the person we needed most, I thank YOU for standing in the gaps. I thank you for loving us unconditionally, as your own blood. I also thank you for giving me the discipline I needed (we all know I needed it!) I love and miss our talks, and I love how you love and treat my wife with as much heart as you did us oh so long ago, even though you think there's things she needs to change. I love you, I love you, I love you. I cannot say that enough.
*
I actually SUCKED the talent from others around me.. that's how bad I was
Thanks to TheViking88 for the sig!!