This Past Saturday we celebrated my mother’s 90th birthday.  It was a great day.  My mom is still very full of life and very alert.  I’m thankful that I was blessed to have her as a mother.  Born in 1919,  the daughter of immigrants from England, she has seen tremendous change over the past 90 years.  She lived through the great depression and World War 2 and has watched technology transform our culture.  She is a survivor.  Her father died in a coal mining accident in Colorado when she was still a toddler.  Her mother raised 7 kids doing the best she could as a single mom.

She was pulled out of her P.E. class when she was in school because the doctors discovered she had a “bad heart.”  She survived major surgery around 1949 and was told she could never have anymore children.  I was born a year or so later.  Then in the late 50’s she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, things looked bad but she survived the cancer and the surgery.  In the early ’60’s she had more major surgery, this time removing a large portion of her stomach due to a stomach ulcer.  By the ‘70 she could no longer travel in high altitudes due to her on going heart condition.  Next came diabetes.  Now that is a huge challenge to someone who has such a great love for chocolate and ice cream.  Somehow they (chocolate and ice cream) have managed to coexist with the diabetes. 

In 1997 my father, who had lived a very healthy and active life, was diagnosed with lung cancer.  The surgery ended up being too much for him and he never left the hospital.  My mother continues to grieve his loss but she survived.  In 2006 she found out that she had stomach cancer.  Some thought it was too much to operate on an 87 year old women.  My mom thought otherwise.  They removed all but a walnut sized portion of her stomach.  The recovery was excruciating.  Following a month in a rehab center that just about killed her, the director of her rehab recommended that we take her home and let her live out her last few days.  She didn’t know my mom very well!  We got her out of there  in time to save her life. 

Saturday was a great day.  It was a day to celebrate, not just my mother’s 90th birthday, but to celebrate her great love for life and her great ability to survive against all odds.  A celebration that included a few pieces of chocolate.  After all what’s the point of surviving if you can’t enjoy a piece of chocolate every now and then. 

Thank you Lord, for my mother and all that she has taught me through her words and through her life.  So much of who I am is because of her.  I am especially thankful that she taught me about you – to know you, to love you and to serve you.  Amen