When I think of my mom, I can’t pick out one single memory that was better than all the rest. To me, mom’s memory will be all the little things she did for our family to make our lives better. For example, she used to read all of the instructions for the complicated board games we played every Sunday so we wouldn’t have to. For over a decade while her kids were growing up, she packed all of our lunches (even dad’s), cooked all of our suppers, and did all of our laundry without complaint every single day. She cleaned the bathrooms, floors, and windows to the house, even if they were still clean to everybody else. And yet she still found time to do the bills, keep track of all our appointments, and volunteer at our schools to help out our teachers. Though we began to take over some of these jobs as we got older, mom worked as hard as she could for her family for as long as she could, and its something I’ll always respect and admire her for.
However, mom did so much more than just housework. She was actively involved in every aspect of my life from the day I was born. She volunteered to go on my class field trips, and served my school hot lunches every month. She drove me to and from school every day, even if we only lived a couple blocks away because she just had to make sure we were ok. Mom helped us with our homework, going from encouraging us to work hard in elementary school to wishing we would work less in high school. I’ll always appreciate how mom came to nearly all of my basketball games, even the games against the violent teams that always stressed her out. She played the Wii with us, board games with us, and watched TV with us as a family every single night. She taught us to drive, how to cook, and especially how to clean. She transformed all of the houses we lived in into homes. Above all else, mom was my rock, my best friend, and the glue that kept our family together. That still keeps our family together.
The best thing she has left behind for us is her example. We should all love and support our families like she did. We should appreciate every moment as they come, even the little things, because in the end it’s the little things we remember.
