All My Children # 15

Hello my dear kids,

I am hoping this finds each of you well. I have not been able to write my blog for two straight weeks and I miss it. My life seems to always be in constant motion and never, what I consider normal as such. It is sometimes difficult to function as the " normal " me !
Enough of that ....

Well, ' Mothers Day, is almost upon us. I feel like just reflecting on that for this blog. I am so full of gratitude for being so fortunate to have each of you in my life. With everything else seeming so stressful around me these last two years, having my family to think about and to love and feel loved, makes my life feel important and of great value. I truly do not know where I would be without you. Here is my tribute to you ...

My son Ed, you are such a wonderful son. So very handsome. You are so helpful to dad and I. This whole past two years, you have given so much of your time, strength, hard work, and companionship to us. We have reached for you the most to be there for us and depended on you time and time again through out this journey we are on. You just quietly go along with what ever we ask of you. We thank you for all of your support. You are a good man. You are kind, loving and supportive. Lucky is the woman that gets you for her husband, you will be a great catch. With the kind of dedication you possess, I can tell that you, too, will be a wonderful husband someday. You have a good job and work hard at doing your best at your job. You show a respect for your job with being loyal, consciences, and strong sense of dedication. I know it will pay off through out your career. I love seeing you with your pup, Oscar. You take such good and loving care of him and he will be a good companion at your side for years to come. We are so very proud of you. Now you are ready to buy your first home soon and we cannot wait to see you embarking on the next part of your journey. God bless you.

My son Bill, you too, are a wonderful son. It has brought your dad and I such great joy watching you step into the role of being a husband to CJ. You walked right into that role as if you had always known how to go about it. A wonderful husband indeed. You are such a very hard worker, and that is how it has always been with you. You always knew how to work hard and not complain about it. You take such care about your house, the lawn, and all the projects you do around the house. You just figure out how the job needs done and do your best at getting it done. You are so very handsome. I love when you look at me and smile, it goes right into my heart. I am looking forward to watching you step in to the role of fatherhood. I have no doubt it will be your most rewarding job yet. I have always felt that each of you were so truly blessed to have been raised by such an amazing and wonderful father, and I also feel you , too, will be a wonderful father. You are such a good man. You make us so very proud. Than you for helping us with the Chardon house getting it ready to sell. It meant a lot to us. God bless you.

My daughter-n-law CJ, We are so happy you are a part of our family. We love you so very much. You are a beautiful young woman. Thank you for loving Bill and being such a good wife to him. You too, are such a hard worker. You have such a strong sense of taking charge and getting things accomplished. I have no doubt you will be missed by the Ritz. You ran that pastry kitchen and kept things in order, and people on their toes. You are so creative and gifted with your cake decorating it amazes me. I am sure you will be a strong mentor in the classes you are now teaching at the Art Institute. Lucky students ! Now, your best job yet, you have Viv on the way. You are carrying such precious cargo for sure. It is so wonderful to see what immaculate care you are taking of your 'self ' , for Vivianna's sake. You are doing everything you can to ensure safety and good health for her. What a WONDERFUL mother you are ALREADY being. Not every child is so lucky. Thank you CJ for being so selfless and loving. It is going to be a joy to watch you and Bill raise your family together. We are so very proud of you. Thank you for all of the help at the Chardon house, you were a good painter ! ( even though you do not like the outdoors so much, there you were, such a trooper, helping me paint the fence ! ) God bless you.

My son Tommy John, you make us so happy in so many ways. When I am feeling down, I always turn to one of your CD's. I love listening to you sing and play. I grew up listening to my dad all my ( younger)life and I think somehow it comforts me to hear you sing. I wish I had every song you have ever sang on CD. ( hint ) You certainly stand tall and proud. ( I am still amazed at how tall you stand !) You are indeed a good son. You are unique. You have a creative steak a mile wide. I always have the desire to want to talk to you about kicking around ideas and new projects. I enjoy all the phone calls with you. We can certainly get on a role of talking about things huh ? Trust me, I enjoy everyone of them. You have a take-charge kind of attitude that is energizing. You are a hard worker and have been very helpful to us many a time. We thank you for all of the time and help you have given to us for sure. It is so appreciated. You have a very strong sense of " family ". I love that about you. You make an effort to stay in touch and plan get-together's. I can tell it means a lot to you too. It is rewarding for dad and I to watch you and Jennifer build ' Baby Grace Photography' together. We we wish great success for your future. We are proud of you and love you dearly. God bless you.

To Jennifer, it may not be ' official " but I can tell you we love you being a part of our family. You are a good, kind and loving young woman. You are a beautiful young woman. You have such a strong compassionate heart. With the heartache you have endured, it would be easy to be cynical or bitter, but you do not let your painful experience dictate your life. Thank you for being so loving to Tommy, and sharing in his life journey. It makes me happy to know that you have each other to lean on. You are so talented with your photography. I am continually amazed when viewing your work. I see your business continuing to flourish. As this economy recovers, your business will grow leaps and bounds. (when you are famous, can I get your autograph ?) It is rare to see something so generous as when you gave to Bill & CJ some of Maya's precious clothes and little bear, for their baby. That was a truly beautiful and loving gift. For I know what those things meant to you, and it was a precious and special offering for sure. Thank you for all of your love and support. Thank you for the help you have given to us with our house. Thank you for your friendship. I look forward to many joyful times to come. We love you. God bless you.

My daughter Angela, you are truly a gift. What a wonderful daughter you are. You are so beautiful. You fill my day with joy when you call me. I love that we get to chat almost everyday. I love hearing your voice. Thank you for always being there for me. Thanks for listening to me when I am up or down. Thanks for all of the help you have given to dad and I over the last two years. You are such a good young woman. You are a smart, kind,strong,loving and creative teacher. You are mentoring these young children and doing a great job at it. You should be so proud of yourself. You won the technology classroom last year, recently you won the 'writing a lesson plan contest', and you have accomplished getting all A's ( so far ) in your Masters classes ! That is quite a big accomplishment ! Just think ... you will be done this time next year ! Yeah ! You are involved in choir, guiding the youth at church, and working at Barnes & Nobles part time ! Whew !! you make me tired thinking of it all. You are a good friend to many, a good sister, a good grand daughter and the best daughter we could have ever asked for. We are so very proud of you. We love you dearly. God bless you.

And ... to My Husband of 32 1/2 yrs ... I still love you dearly. You are my everything. You are my sweetheart for life. I am so sorry we are going thru everything the way we are. It surely takes away from our health, our time together, our finances, our energy and our joy. I am determined not to let it destroy our happiness though. I have no idea why we are going thru this straining and stressful time, but I believe we will come out stronger from it in the end. Thank you for being my husband and a great one at that. Thank you for working so very hard. (seemingly all of the time) Thank you for making me a mother and for being such a wonderful father to each of our children. Thank you for loving me ( even during time when I am not so lovable ) I am so very proud of you and proud to call you my husband. God bless you.

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.
-- J.M. Barrie

Thank you each for bringing me sunshine,
Love Momma G