daddy...

Daddy,

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for playing dolls and sipping tea with me.

Thank you for being the best travel partner to Spain.

Thank you for being the best travel partner to Greece.

Thank you for being the best travel partner to Prague.

And yes, even to Nice.

Thank you for dancing with me when no one else would.

Thank you for making me laugh when no one else could. 

Thank for setting a standard and precedence for living as I should.

Thank you for being my friend, my father, and financier. I owe you a debt I could never pay for the woman I claim to be today. 

I love you forever, I love for always,

Bibee

she...

She chose to hold life sacred.

She chose to love me before I was born.

She chose to let the stretchmarks mark my growth without care to her physique.

She changed my diaper with joy when no one else would.

She rocked my fever away when no else could. 

She taught me how to complete chores as I should. 

She taught me how to fight for what is right. 

She taught me how to be strong when things were wrong. 

She taught me the value of life, the value of a dollar, and the value of tithe. 

Yesterday afternoon I sat at our mahogany colored table surrounded by my family members and inhaled deeply and smiled. No it wasn't my dill-infused potato salad, maple baked beans, or turkey burgers that brought satisfaction to my soul. Satisfaction bubbled inside of me like the Perrier on our table as I watched my mother smile as her children took turns in honoring her, her life, and her legacy to our household. 

It was a special day in our household, not because it was Mother's Day, but because my mother is alive. Five years ago my red-headed Boricua mother laid feebly on her bed, unable to walk, on some days unable to talk, moaning and writhing from pain as Chemo and Cancer waged a war against each other in her body. In the middle of her battle with cancer, she lost control of bodily functions and we would wipe her chin from the drool which hung from her lip, change her clothes if she urinated them, and on rare occasion, help her change her soiled pants with great sensitivity to her shame. We all looked pitifully at a shell of a woman who once was and we prepared ourselves for what life would be without her.

Yesterday was a fulfillment of Proverbs 31:28 as her children and husband surrounded her and called her blessed. When her red hair fell out and her face swelled from the steriods, we knew that charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who loves the Lord shall be praised.

I had the honor and privilege of taking my mother with me as I spoke to a lovely group of women about honoring mothers (Exodus 20) this past Saturday. I stood brazenly before the crowd and proudly stated that I have one of the best mothers in the WORLD!