Monday, May 12, 2008

Mothers' Day Gift

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Mothers' Day, whether you celebrated it with your mother or you were the honoree or you spent the day in the garden. Planting flowers is my traditional way of enjoying Mothers' Day, but yesterday was a cold, rainy, windy, and just plain nasty day so gardening was out of the question. But I had another reason for staying out of the garden: we were busy all weekend with two special graduation ceremonies and celebrations.


Yesterday my "baby" graduated from college. She is the third of my four children to graduate from the University of Illinois (my alma mater as well), so at our house we "bleed orange and blue," as we Illini like to say. She doesn't appreciate being called "the baby," but she was our little "surprise," born nearly 16 years after my oldest son. Her older brothers and sister like to point out to her how much easier she had it than they and that she has been spoiled. My husband and I respond that we were older, wiser, and mellower when she was born, but yes, I admit, she has been somewhat coddled. So I am especially proud that she had the determination and persistence to complete her degree and now plans to continue with grad school.

We were equally proud of our daughter-in-law who received her MBA on Saturday. What makes her accomplishment even more amazing is that she continued working at her full-time job as well as raising two small children while studying for her degree. And I must admit, I am also proud of my son who made it possible for her to keep up with her studies, taking care of the kids two nights a week so she could attend classes besides helping her out throughout the week.

We took everyone out to eat last night to celebrate. My parents were there, so I did get to treat my mom to a Mothers' Day dinner after all. All five grandchildren and all my children except the daughter who lives in Arizona were also there, so it was a wonderful day.

Today the sun is finally shining again, and it's time to get back to gardening. So please forgive my little indulgence here in bragging about my children, but I think those of you who are mothers will understand. Seeing your children grow up and become responsible, caring adults is the best Mothers' Day gift of all.

12 comments:

  1. You should be proud of your tribe Rose. Congrats to all. You are mightly blessed.

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  2. Rose, don't ever apologize for honoring your children. They are all wonderful. I don't know you well, but I'm sure they inherited your genes, lady :o) This is a sweet tribute.

    Congratulations to you and them. You're quite a Mom.

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  3. Rose, tell the girls how proud we are of them too! Of course you deserve a lot of credit also-I know. Glad your weekend was so special.

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  4. Rose how wonderful, my heart felt congratulations to them all. As one who never has been able to put her head in gear, to sit and accumulate knowledge, they have my utmost respect. You must be so very proud.

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  5. Hi Rose, you must be so proud, you have very good reason to 'brag' though I wouldn't call it that.

    Your son does indeed deserve praise too. My husband was a massive support while I was doing my degree, I certainly couldn't have juggled everything without all his help and understanding.

    My book club was good thank you. We are all adults (no students) just friends who all gave birth to our children around the same time (that's how we met) and use the group to keep in touch. We often don't talk much about the book we've all read and just gossip instead!! :)

    Hope it's still sunny with you. The weather here has been unusually warm, just like mid summer. I hope it lasts.

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  6. Lisa, Thanks. Yes, I do feel blessed.

    Mary, Thanks for your nice comments. Glad you also enjoyed my last post; it helps to laugh sometimes, doesn't it?

    Beckie, Thanks. Except for the crummy weather on Sunday we had a great time. We actually went yesterday (Monday) to take the picture in front of the Alma Mater.

    Thanks, Nancy. It's hard to believe all my children are now officially "grown up."

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  7. Cheryl, Thanks. I am very proud of all my kids. Seeing them achieve their goals, whether it's getting a degree or raising a family, makes me very happy.

    Suburbia, Thanks. I am glad that my sons do help out around the house and are full-time dads. My husband tried, but he was pretty helpless as a cook.
    Thanks for the update on the book club; that sounds like more fun than just discussing a book anyway :)
    And by the way, as soon as I see the hummingbirds, I'll do my best to take a picture, though you might check out Mary's View listed on my blogroll. She takes wonderful pictures of birds.

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  8. You are so right. The best gift is to see your children blossom into responsible adults.
    Congratulations to your lovely daughter. She looks so happy and confident.
    Congrats to your daughter-in-law too. I am glad she has the support of your son. My daughter-in-law is also pursuing post-grad studies and my son looks after their baby and does the cooking.
    Glad you had such a happy Mother's Day.

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  9. Brag on, Rose. You have a delightful family to be proud of. Days like these are very special. (I also have a 'caboose', 11 years younger than oldest)

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  10. Rose, congratulations to you and your baby on her graduation! You have every right to be proud of her and all your kids. It's a mom's right to brag on our kids!

    U of I is my husband's alma mater too.

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  11. I bet it was a lovely weekend! Congratulations to your daughter and daughter-in-law. You're right to be proud and dleighted.

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  12. OH how funny is this? A small world after all.....Congratulations....Shannon was obvioulsy in the College of ACES and we were in Kramer Hall for the 9:30 event...we chose to not do the 2:00 one! How exciting for you. Neither my husband or I went to the U of I but we certainly enjoyed her time there...she is off "to save the rain forest" (in Costa Rica)before she comes home and goes to Grad school--somewhere.Gotta love those kids....and congrats to your daughterinlaw...how hard was that to do with kids???she has a special husband obviously!!!!
    and you photo does NOT reflect how ugly that day really was!!!!!

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