AN ODE TO MY MOM!

 Mom, 

You were my biggest cheerleader.  Heck, you may still be!  You would always tell me I was great at stuff - one of the things was doing speaking which I really haven't done in a long time.  Maybe I should figure out a way to do that again.  

You also kept me in check.  When I started thinking I was better than everyone else (at everything), you would help keep me to see maybe that wasn't true.  I haven't really gotten better at that though, but at least it's on my radar.

You also gave me the confidence to do the right thing.  I still remember our talk and how you let me know that I shouldn't let anything else make my decision - that I could really do whatever I wanted.  But, you also helped me to be the easy going person I am.  Nothing was all that important and things were pretty simple - just love 'em.

I do think I got my love of nature from you.  Maybe you are the one that inspired me to try new stuff and not be afraid - I do appreciate that you let me do that growing up and even encouraged me to get into different things.  But, maybe the most important thing I learned from you was how to make the normal, average everyday things into a celebration.  The times at 317 Hale; especially as we got older, were some of the best times of my life.  It was just family being together, goofing around.  That's still my favorite thing to do!

Oh, but the main thing you ever did was to be the biggest fan of Tony Melton that there was.  You really listened, you really made me feel important, you really made me feel like I just had to be myself and that was incredible, and you really gave me confidence that I was awesome just the way I was.  Love ya!