Ode To Mom – A 60th B-Day Celebration
At some point in my life I realized that mom was more than a mom and more than mine!
One day I introduced her, as usual, as “my mom”. And someone said, “Yes, but what is her name?” “Mom,” I replied, dumbfounded. And then it clicked, “Oh, you mean HER name?”
So today, as we celebrate her 60th year, we share this ODE TO MOM, AKA Audrey Mae Fraser.
Daughter, sister, wife, mother, auntie, grandma, great grandma even
But we call her mom!
54 was a good year
Middle child, born to Sadie and Jacob Shaw
The years pass quickly and old photo albums show young ladies, siblings, with long hair and hot pants, all smiles and giggles posing in front of an old car
Weathered photos follow of young love, wedding cakes and a dress – Audrey Mae Fraser.
Well thumbed through pictures of a home and babies follow.
To the one….
To the one who bore us all – 9 months each
Some, no names mentioned, caused nausea for the duration
Some caused her belly to expand so that there was no lap left and she was forced her to wear flowered 70’s maternity tops
Some who kicked incessantly throughout
Transferred at birth, from her womb to her heart
A heart which has brought us through 40, 37 and 34 years to date!
To the one….
Who suffered loss and heartbreak
And lost her way for a time
But like the phoenix
Rose strong from the ashes
Pulling her babies with her
Stronger and more powerful
Teaching us to fight for love and for each other
To the one….
Who found a new love
Opened her heart and arms wide
And built a new family
To the one…
Who choose as her primary career and profession, Motherhood, but who dabbled in many areas:
Teaching – Algebra was her homework speciality
Veterinarian – her second calling. Who can forget the minor invasive surgeries on hamsters and the beta fish she brought back from the frozen dead to life in a margarine dish on the door of the propane stove. That fish lived for a time and later died of a stroke! And of course all the dogs and cats that called our house home – ours and others.
Banker– otherwise known as the personal bank of MOM – and the MOM Personal Financial Advisor
Celebrity – according to Hughie, mom’s picture is on the Mother Web’s sign outside of Antigonish. And He named two (Ford Tough) Green Ford trucks after her – Audie 1 and Audie 2.
Interior Designer – she craved change and designer furniture arranging. You never knew where the furniture would be when you got home from school – but very likely that it wouldn’t be in the same place as when you left in the morning.
Medic – fixed minor ailments, made chicken noodle soup (from a can counts), applied band aids and hugs and kisses, made countless trips to emergency with one child (who shall remain unnamed) for stitches to his head, as he thought he could fly
Foodie – she was known to have eaten a whole chicken in one day. I can’t say much because I have been known to have consumed (with my hubby) a whole German chocolate cake in one evening – must be in the genes
Librarian – known to be reading several books at any given time, known to have stacks of books everywhere- she taught us the joy of books and their ability not only to make us brilliant but also to transform us to other lives and worlds
Inadvertent Comedian –we had a dog named Love. The best times were when bikers, hikers or walking strangers passed by the house on the road and the dog followed. Because it was at this time that mom would run to the step and begin hollering loudly, “Love, here Love, come here boy, I said get over here Love” each time getting louder and more persistent. Many roll on the floor laughing fits took place inside the house while she was outside hollering for her love!
Musician/Singer – mindless humming – you know that random, tuneless, humming for no particular reason? Not only did mom regularly engage in mindless humming, she passed that on in the genes as well. Because for all our laughing at her growing up, all three of us mindless hum……..randomly and regularly.
Referee – for those few times when emotions and hormones got out of control and furniture started flying
Counsellor – wiped away tears, encouraged, gave advice and had the best “momisms”
Like:
To the one…..
Who stayed at home most of our school years, cooked, cleaned, met us at the door at the end of the day, cared and loved us through the “kid years”.
Who tolerated a 3 years olds need to invite strangers in to meet her new baby sister and her total obsession with her baby brother
Who planned the best family birthdays – understanding that birthdays were very important days to be celebrated with multiple cakes, hotdogs, kool aid and lots of family.
Who allowed Grade 6 boy/girl birthday parties (encouraging the spread of chicken pox through the entire Grade 6 class) and who threw mid winter sledding parties with HOMEMADE hot chocolate stirred up in a gigantic pot.
Who totally got the childhood “I have to have’s” like the Smurfette backpack, the karate pj’s, the cabbage patch dolls, the decked out Barbie RV (and the million babies) and “all the electrical things”
Who allowed her entire house to be torn apart and turned into a Barbie resort, or a restaurant or wherever else our imagination took us. Who endured endless board games and understood the concept of moving with the WII way back when we were still playing Nintendo (note to self – don’t sit next to mom while playing video games, you may get knocked off the couch).
Who took power outages and made them into candlelight games and snacks night, rearranging furniture and making the dark fun.
Who welcomed childhood friends with open arms, was a second mom to all, played games with us and didn’t mind phone calls at midnight when friends needed help with math, advice or occasionally a drive home or a place to stay for the night.
Who taught us to say please and thank you, asked us where our manners were, taught us to be polite (most of the time) and respectful, taught us to love each other and our family and always told us we could and would be whatever we wanted to be (thankfully none of us every aspired to be a dinosaur or a peanut butter sandwich!)
To the one….
Who fought for more for herself and for her kids, went back to school, took a crazy course, got her GED and a brand new shiny job.
Nights we studied together at the kitchen table
Mornings we all set out to conquer this new world at the same time
To the one….
Who loved us when we were most unlovable
Pushed us when we needed to be pushed
And let go when we needed to fly
To the one …..
Who held us tight in her heart
Grasped us loosely by the hand
Pushed us to fly – leading to a few stumbles
Staying close enough to put out her hand, brush us off and encourage us to soar again
But never far enough away to let us crash and burn.
M Most
O Often
T Thoughtful
H Holding
E Each child’s heart/life
R Reverently
The power of a mother
The Power to Love, encourage, give the withering look that speaks volumes, to teach you about real life and real love and real family and persevering and resilience.
The good book says the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come to give you life and life more abundantly. We only get one circle around this side of eternity.
This mom, our mom, in her 60th year has learned to grab life this abundant life with both hands – visits to Halifax, late night girls chats, honest heart sharing, Costco shopping, movies and games, camping and amusement parks, time with her grandkids and her fur grand babies too, beach walks and strawberry sundaes and selfies with her kids.
To wrap it up, a few lessons penned by the great Dr. Seuss but modeled by our mom!
And to our mom, in her 60th year:
“You are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
Happy Birthday! Here’s to another 60! We love you to eternity. And we think you did a pretty good job – even if we do say so ourselves!