Sunday, January 18, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today is my mom's 78th birthday. She's a pretty amazing woman, I must say. Soon after she married my father back in the early 50's, she found herself far away from her NJ home-overseas, in France, due to Dad's Air Force career. She raised two daughters and two sons, while Dad worked, often leaving his family for weeks or months at a time on TDY (Temporary Duty) assignments to places like Turkey and Cameron Bay. We traveled from New Jersey to Louisiana, to Georgia and Germany, back to NJ and on to Texas, and it was Mom who kept it all together. She raised us to be self sufficient with strong work ethics, and though she had not gone to college herself at the time, we all did- and so did she after Dad died. She raised a MSW, a Master Degreed teacher, an RN, and a businessman/owner, eventually earning her own Master's degree in Social Work. Mom began her career at a time when her peers were thinking about retirement and then worked for many years, developing and running the HOPE Program for widows and widowers in and around Camden County, NJ. She's retired now, but keeps up her busy lifestyle visiting her children in Alaska, Texas, and Wyoming and helping care for her grandchildren in NJ. Her friends know she's there for them and so do all of us. Happy birthday, Mom. May this be the best year yet! I love you.

3 comments:

Gigi said...

Very nice, Kath! Happy Bday, Mom! I echo my sister's sentiments.

Betty said...

Love you both! What nice sentiments! I spent my day lazing away, reading favorite books and talking with all of you plus a couple of friends and cousins.

Kristinn said...

And, she's a rockin' cool Granny! I was so glad to have the opportunity to get to know her better when I lived with her for almost a year after graduating college. She is so laidback and funny and an all-around awesomely smart and cool person. :D