Happy Birthday, Mom

Here is a tribute to Mom that Deanna wrote for her ward newsletter on Mother's Day:

Mom was never the woman trying on dresses at the mall, getting a pedicure at the salon, or pasting photos in a scrapbook. My mom could be found mowing the lawn, canning green beans, and hanging laundry to dry. (According to her, the only good thing about wind was that it dried the sheets quickly and made them smell sweet.) She clipped coupons, shopped sales, and made do with what she had. She was the woman who delivered meals to the sick, tended children---her own and other people's---planted a garden, mended torn clothing, washed sticky faces, put off getting a perm for "just one more week," and fell asleep reading bedtime stories. She never had a career, wrote a novel, got her nails done, or bought designer clothes. She balanced the checkbook, wrote letters, baked birthday cakes, and doled out hot bread and jam when we came home from school. She gave hugs, shared laughs, offered encouragement, and never stopped believing in the worth of her children. After nearly 88 years of living, she still prays for, works with, stands behind, cries over, and cheers on all ten of us. Happy Mother's Day, Mom (Happy Birthday). Because of you, I still hang my sheets out to dry when the wind blows.

---In honor of Lorraine Whitby Strong, my sweet mother and the woman I most admire and want to be like.

Thank you, Deanna, for such a wonderful tribute to our mother.