Happy Mother's Day to all of you. I say this to everyone who has a nurturing spirit. There are people I know who have no children of their own, but who have given so much love to people whose mothers couldn't or wouldn't give them the love that they needed. In that way, I believe with my whole heart, that they have inspired or "birthed" people, who are today, what they'd never have become without that special love and caring. My daughter and Aunt Gussie come to mind right away. These two have 'parented' and 'nursed' many broken hearts and in that way, those they have nurtured have then become their loved ones, whom they couldn't love any more than if they were their own children. Women like this need to be honored today as well.
As for me, I'm sitting here in a chocolate stupor, smelling like a rose...several of them as a matter of fact. Most of you regular readers know my son, Dan by now. He's the (now) oldest. He and his family sent me these beautiful roses. I love the fact that they remembered to include some orange ones, which tie into my strange ORANGE hall :-) It's funny, but lately any time I introduce Dan to anyone, the person blurts out, "You look like your Mom!" At which point we both look at one another, Dan and I, kind of bemused and don't know what to think...or especially what to say about it. We kinda stammer "Oh...good...thank you". Nice lookin' kid, wouldn't cha say? ;-P

Thom is next in line. He lives in Alfred Station, NY, where I went to college. He always sends me my mostest favoritest honey-sweetened assorted chocolates. As you can see in the picture above, next to the roses, the poor, mangled box of chocolates; the "Ooops Guy" delivered them, but then I've been like a vulture pickin' at them for several days now...I just couldn't wait for Mother's Day. (sometimes I'm just like a little kid myself.)

Next in line is my only daughter, Jennifer, whom, since her brother, Dan, married a girl also named Jennifer, has let me go back to calling her by her knick-name, "Sookie". As I said earlier, although she has no children, she has 'mothered' many...even me. She spoils me. (She spoils her cats rotten, tho'...LOL)

Here's a picture of 'the baby', Joe with Cappy, taken last December. We all had a great time. Speaking of knick names, take another look at the Mother's Day card in the top picture. The frog one, with the yellow flower in it's mouth. Inside it says, "Motherhood...it's not for the squeamish! From you little 'Froggy', Love, Joe". (Also a gift card from Best Buy, cuz now he considers me a kinda/sorta geek, seein' as how I can get online...giggling here.) Joe's knick name was "Froggy" because when he was a baby, just learning to creep, his legs were behind him, and when he squatted down, he looked like a frog. The tradition lives on. Here's a picture of his daughter, Ashley, at Christmas time. She looks like she could just up and leap across the room. So cute. But as for Joe, looking like a little froggy didn't stop there; when he was about nine months old he could slowly crawl up to flies and pick them up. We watched him do it several times. This one particular time he crawled up to this fly who was stupid enough to just sit there and let him do it. Joe slowly reached out and picked him up, then...GAH! squished him in his fingers, but then he started to put it up to his mouth, at which time we all leaped out of our chairs, shreiking, which made the poor little 'froggy' about jump out of his skin. He's still my little "Froggy" today, who has his own little bunch of 'tad poles', who in the picture way at the top of the page again, with the roses, seem to be laughing at the froggy Mother's Day card. And the sweet ending to this post today is a picture Joe sent of his youngest little polliwog, Kaitlyn. And now my story has been toad.