Nurse, teacher, counselor, cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, personal assistant, the list goes on and on.

What do you get when you roll all these occupations into one? A mother!

From the moment a child is born, the duties of its mother are endless. From the middle-of-the-night feedings of a newborn to the preparation of high school graduation for the teenager.

And my mom was no exception. She worked outside the home, only to come home to all the motherly duties that went along with raising four children (and a husband).

But through it all she always had a smile on her face, a positive attitude and plenty of love to go around.

Mom and I were looking through some old photos the other day and we came across one of me when I was around 5. I recognized the dress I had on as being the one she made for me out of a maternity top she had made for herself years earlier. That was just one of the things she did to keep us clothed, fed and a roof over our heads, even if the kitchen ceiling sometimes resembled a shower head when it rained.

We sort of had that "Green Acres" thing going on. For instance, we didn't have an indoor toilet and the outhouse was what seemed to be a mile from the back door.

And we had the infamous junk car parked in the driveway. It came in handy when the cat needed a place to deliver kittens.

And then there was the old door nailed to the bottom limbs of a tree to simulate a tree house.

You get the picture.

I think about some of the stupid things we did as kids and wonder what kept her from sneaking out to her Volkswagen Bug during the night, taking off down the road and never looking back. Maybe she didn't because she wasn't sure how far the car would go until it broke down, but the point is, she didn't leave. She was always there, being the best mom she knew how to be.

One day she was at work and Dad was "looking after us." We decided since we didn't have any cookies we would make our own. We took a metal cup and stamped a hole in a slice of bread. Before we knew it, we had gone through a whole loaf of bread and threw the crust under the porch. Let's just say we didn't hide the evidence very well.

It's funny how a smell or something you hear reminds you of something in your past. The other day I heard an old song on TV and it reminded me of the soothing voice I used to hear coming from the kitchen of the farmhouse as Mom prepared breakfast early in the morning. She and I were the early birds so that was "our time" together. The rest of the family chose to waste away the day, or so we thought.

At 75 (sorry, Mom), she still works and takes care of my mentally handicapped sister and my father, who needs special care. God has sure blessed her with patience and amazing inner strength.

I could go on and on about how wonderful my mom is, but there's not enough space in the paper to mention all the times she put her family first, whether it was all the sleepless nights taking care of us when we were sick or just scared of the boogymen, or driving half an hour after a hard day's work to pick us up after school.

When I think back at some of the things my siblings and I did, or didn't do, or expected from her, I feel like we have so much to apologize and thank her for.

There's times when she'll call at a busy time and it's about something that could wait until the next time I see her, but I remind myself how lucky I am to hear her voice on the other end of the line. Somehow it's comforting just knowing she's there.

Now, I couldn't write a Mother's Day column without mentioning another woman who's been like a mother to me. That would be mom's sister, Sandy. She, too, has dedicated her life to her family and she made sure I had things that I might not have been able to have otherwise while growing up.

So to Mom and Aunt Sandy, thank you for being such wonderful moms and for being such positive role models throughout my life. I love you both very much, through thick and thin.

And I thank God every day for blessing me with two kids of my own.

It seems like just yesterday they were little and outside playing in the yard during the warm sunny days. Coming in with a scalp full of sand and a handful of weeds, having created a beautiful bouquet "just for you, mommy." You know the ones. Wilted from the heat and leaving pollen on their noses from smelling them and stains on their grubby little hands.

Then all of a sudden they are all grown up and off to college to start a life of their own.

It's been a blessing, not only having two great kids but also the best mother a person could ever wish for.

Happy Mother's Day to all! [[In-content Ad]]