Here are 40 things about the wonderful woman I get to call mom.
40. She is 14 years older than I am and I can feel it the older I get.
39. When she’s 40 I’m 26.
38. When she turns 50 I’ll be 36. I can’t help but think we’ll both be in our prime at those ages and have so much fun together.
37. She is my best friend, my rock.
36. I know she thinks that I give her strength, but really it is the other way around.
35. She is the strongest person I know and without her guidance I’m not sure I would be the strong woman I am today.
34. She pushes me to be the best I can be, but she doesn’t push me with her words she pushes me with her actions.
33. She has never told me what to do, even when I ask her to. Sometimes I wish she would make my decisions for me but she never does, even when it is as simple as which book I should purchase.
32. She has led me to be the free spirit that I am.
31. We have a special relationship that I absolutely love.
30. She is my biggest supporter.
29. She listens to me complain about dumb things.
28. She knows that I am one of the most annoying people in her life and yet she still loves me.
27. I know she wonders why I have to be particular about every single detail in every single thing, but still she accommodates those details, or at least listens to my reasoning as to why things have to be a certain way.
26. She cleans better than any one I know.
25. She claims that she doesn’t love to clean, but secretly it is hands down her favorite thing to do.
24. She watches stupid tv with me even though I know she hates it at the same time that she likes it because it makes her laugh.
23. I don’t know how she has time for all of the things that she does.
22. I can call her when I’m sad and she’ll listen to me cry.
21. She still spoils me when she can and takes special dinner requests from me.
20. Sometime she only texts me in emojis, and I enjoy trying to figure out what she means, but I know her so well that it isn’t difficult.
19. When she misses me she calls me more times than I want to talk to her.
18. I talk about her way to much. So much to the point that people automatically say “what does your mom think about that?” because they know I tell her everything.
17. She cannot keep a secret. Everything I tell she tells my dad even when I ask her not to.
16. I am positive her best friend knows every little detail of my life because my mom is the worst at secret keeping.
15. If you upset her or make her mad she will tell you exactly how you made her feel (there is a chance I am that way too.)
14. More than anything I hate to see her cry and never know how to comfort her.
13. I cannot imagine the weight she carries everyday by being a mother to kids who very in ages from 7 to 25.
12. Sometimes I give her hugs to remind myself that in my mommy’s arms I am safe no matter how old I get.
11. Other times I wish she would leave me alone and stop hugging me, I’m an adult!
10. I am way too much like her and it scares me every single day.
9. It scares me even more when I hear my siblings act just like her. She has phrases that tend to rub off on others.
8. When she sees me she usually says “Fancy meeting you here” in the most ironic situation possible.
7. She makes the best rice and beans in all of the land.
6. She has beautiful traits that she did not give to me, her beautiful skin tone and curly curly hair.
5. I made her listen to Spice Girls when I was growing up and she still knows all the lyrics.
4. She also knows all the lyrics to Madonna songs from when she was growing up.
3. And all the Michael Jackson lyrics.
2. She is extremely loving, compassionate, and kind.
1. I can always see God working through her at all times.
Go ahead and decorate your homes with fluffy bunnies, yellow chicks and baskets filled with eggs. Set aside your best clothes and prepare your ham to be ready by lunch. Eat the ears off the chocolate bunnies and enjoy the yucky peeps (sorry to my peep loving friends) choose whether to say Happy Easter or Happy Resurrection Sunday.
All I ask is that you will first prepare for this beautiful day by reflecting on why it is the most beautiful. Remember that God made the ultimate sacrifice for you. Yes you! He loved you so much that He was willing to feel pain that is unexplainable on Friday and on Sunday he rose, just as promised. He proved to you that you are worth it all. He paid for you with his blood. You have the opportunity to live with him freely once your time here on earth is over. Close your eyes and imagine eternity with him. Eternity is forever.
His resurrection proved that He is Messiah and that He has the victory over Satan, sin, and death. He has broken the chains that tried to keep you from having a future embraced by Him. Once his lifeless body rose our lives have been made complete. All the ugly sin and darkness over the world has no power over him. Death cannot hold him down. He is in fact Alive!
What are your plans for Resection Sunday? Share with me the special ways that you prepare. Are you a peeps eater?
It is obvious that Norah and Sergio are great people, and I’m lucky enough to be their daughter.
Growing up I never realized I was a free spirit until I heard people described me that way. It was not a trait I knew I possessed.
I know my parents didn’t set out to raise me to be a free-spirited person, but they raised me to be my own person and to make my own decisions, which is the same thing as being free-spririted only they didn’t know that’s what they were doing.
In junior high school we learned about politics. Democrats and Republicans. My peers knew exactly which political party they were affiliated with and exactly where all of their values stood, at the age of 13.
I struggled because I had no idea what my political party was.
My classmates would speak up and say “Well my dad believes……”
I had nothing, I had no idea what my dad believed in. I had no idea if he was a Democrat or Republican.I was perplexed all day long, I needed to figure out exactly what I was. I went home that day, sat down for dinner with my parents and expressed my concern.
“Mom, Dad I’m curious am I a Democrat or a Republican?”
“Well, Ashley, that is for you to decide.”
“What you you mean, I need to decide? All the other kids know what they are.”
“That’s because the other kids are probably what their parents told them to be.”
“Well can’t I be what you are?”
“No you have to make that decision for yourself, we can’t tell you what to believe in.”
That day I had more respect for my parents than they would ever know. I always look back to that moment and I know that I was not like everyone else. There are so many stories of people who are pushed to be what their parents want them to be. Kids go to schools they don’t want to be because it is where their parents attended. People pick professions based on what their parents want. I hear these stories and I thank my parents for letting my chose my own life path.
As well as teaching me that I am always free to make my own choices my parents have taught me that I can do anything in life that I want to do. I can say that I have a balanced life of a stable job and a stable place to live, but I often have my head in the clouds thinking of the things I still have to accomplish. I love that about them. I love that they have taught me to be my own person and that they have taught me to dream big.
What are we doing in this life if we aren’t dreaming big? I spend all of my days knowing that I have a purpose in life, I don’t have to be like my peers. I don’t have to believe in something just because someone told me to.
I encourage everyone to make their own life choices despite what someone else tells them they need to do. Deep down we all know what we want, and no one can stop us but ourselves. I’ve always known I can accomplish all that I want because my whole life I’ve been shown that.
God gave us the gift of free will, at times we use it to make mistakes, but in the best of times we use our free will to create something beautiful.
That is all we can strive to do, is make something beautiful.
The name Sergio is not a very common name, and My Sergio is very unique.
Once you meet him you cannot help but smile. I hope that most people remember him by his bubbly personality and his desire to make others laugh. I know that his wheelchair also makes meeting him unforgettable especially once you have the opportunity to learn what makes those wheels turn.
I believe my name is even less common than my husband’s name. I don’t have the same personality as he does. In fact I am shy and not as friendly. I have very little humor and I do not travel in a wheelchair. I can see how people would forget my name.
I have learned to live with the fact that most people greet me with a question like this.
“Hello you’re Sergio’s wife, right?”
I usually smile and say”Yes, I am, my name is Norah.”
I have patients in the dental office I work at call and ask to speak to Sergio’s wife. I giggle and say “This is she,” once the patient realizes they are speaking to Sergio’s wife they ask me questions about their dental appointments. Usually Sergio’s wife is good enough for them and they do not ask me for my name.
Once an older lady pulled me aside to say she had a confession to make, she was in love with my husband. I let her know that it was ok with me because I was in love with him too. I bet she didn’t know my name nor did she care to learn it.
Yes, I am Sergio’s wife, my name is Norah and this has been a role that I have played for over 20 years. This role includes loving and supporting him. Being his legs when he cannot venture down a path and being his arms when he cannot reach. I am his voice when he cannot speak; I am his safe place when he needs shelter. I am the one person that knows his fears, his dreams, and his hopes.
I can feel when he is uncomfortable in a setting, especially when it is not fitting for a wheelchair. I know the sighs when it is time to leave a place that cannot fit his needs. I can read his body language when his back and his bottom have been in one place too long. When he falls physically, I know not to make a big deal of it. He’ll pick himself up. When he falls spiritually I know not to make a big deal, but to lift him in prayer.
I know when he is off balanced emotionally, physically and even spiritually. Without him telling me I know when someone or a situation hurts him. I know when to help him with a struggles and I when to back off and let him figure it out. When it’s time to push and when it’s time to let him lead. You may not know my name but he knows when he calls out to me I am here.
I am Norah, Sergio’s wife.
I challenge you to be that kind of spouse that you were created to be. The spouse that is okay with having your name forgotten because you know that the mention of your name brings him comfort………….. As I tread through.
I felt the need to write about my oldest son and some of the hard times we have faced as a family lately. He was 6 years old when we were blessed to have him be a part of our family. Norah and I adopted him and his brother because we wanted our family to grow and we opened up our hearts to the world of adoption. Our intentions are always to help our family members grow up strong, knowing they are loved, knowing that they are part of a family, and that they would always be part of our lives forever.
This past year and a half have been one of the most difficult times in my life. When our boys came to live with us we told them we would always be here for them, they would always have a home, and that family always sticks together no matter what.
We weren’t prepared for the baggage that my son was carrying from his past. He was part of neglect and abuse from his biological family the first 3 years of his life and the next 3 years he spent jumping from one foster home to another foster home. This has made life for my son difficult now that he is becoming a young man. He struggles with controlling his anger and struggles to share his inner deep feelings. At an early age we could tell that he was easily angered and it didn’t take much for him to throw a tantrum when he felt he didn’t get his way or that no one was listening to him.
We thought he would grow out of it and that we could handle his behavior, but as he got older his anger became worse. We knew he was not in control of his actions and that he couldn’t stop his anger. Everything that we tried didn’t work and we knew that it was only a matter of time before he would hurt himself or someone else.
We had to have our son removed from the house that we said was his and separate him from his family that was supposed to stick together no matter what. We placed him in a treatment facility to help him gain control of his life. This must be more difficult for him now, because now he must feel that he has lost everything again and that he’s by himself in this world, on top of the rest of the baggage he’s been carrying for the past 16 years.
As a father the thought of this makes me want to cry, I was supposed to save and protect him from the world and I failed. I know this is the way it needs to be right now, my son has to find tools to help him handle the anger and to find the tools on how to communicate his feelings so the people around him can understand and help. I try not to get too caught up in the guilt that comes, but it is very difficult.
I want my son to know that I believe in him and not to worry about any of the past mistakes or hard times, because some of the best things in life come from our mistakes. We will be together one day and it will all be behind us. When that day comes we can focus on getting his driver’s license and I can help him with a few pointers on how to get a girls attention. We just have to get passed this hurdle. My job right now as his father is to let him know that no matter what I will always be here for him. And that he will never lose his spot at the dinner table.
Today I encourage you to not miss the opportunity to let a loved one know that they are in your thoughts. If anyone would like to share how they did this I would love to hear it.
I never thought about being a writer, it wasn’t a dream of mine until I realized it was a secret dream that I had yet to discover.
The summer after I graduated college I remained in my college town living in an apartment with my roommate. Most of my friends had post graduation plans while I had no plans except to do what I did every summer; read as many books as possible. That summer was different because I felt inspired to write. Not for anyone but myself. I read a lot of comedic books and wondered if I should venture into comedy. I dreamed of having a blog and hoped that someone would be interested in reading my words.
Months later I decided to return to my hometown. I still had no life plans but the passion of writing remained. I dropped the comedy act and constantly thought of a book I read in college, Life Entrepreneurs by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek. The authors wrote about people who took initiative to become leaders and change their lives and their careers making them entrepreneurs of life. The book inspired me to become a life entrepreneur and encouraged me to want to write about the live’s of others and how they discovered their passions.
I knew I needed to practice my interview skills.
I turned to the first people I always turn to when I have an idea, my parents. I asked if I could interview them. This was a little bit of a touchy subject because originally my mom wanted to write the book on her story and her life.
The first thing out of her mouth was
“You can’t have our story I’m writing a book about it, not you.”
I told her I knew she wanted to write a book and she didn’t need to worry because I had no intentions of stealing her story. I only wanted to practice my interview skills so I could write a book about strangers I had yet to meet.
After that initial day of interviewing I did not continue with that plan.
I still wrote in my spare time, but nothing that I shared with anyone else.
The following summer I went out of town and while I was away my parents spoke their story together. I had no idea it was something they were doing and they didn’t even invite me.
Once I returned they presented me with their ideas. They loved sharing their story and decided it was something they wanted to do. They wanted a life change that would allow them to inspire people. It sounded to me like they wanted to be life entrepreneurs. Knowing they couldn’t write their book alone they asked me to help them. The following week I began to interview them about their lives.
I knew there was a writer somewhere deep inside of me, I just needed her to come out. That was the summer of 2012. Since then I have built this website and I am a better writer. It is a blessing how life works and how God works because the three of us are pursing our dreams, but together.
One day I will write that book where I interview strangers about their passions in life.
For now I will continue to help my parents to pursue their dreams while achieving my own of becoming an author.
I want to encourage any one reading this to pursue their passions, and not to be afraid to ask for help from people who have the tools to help you achieve those goals. I never asked if I could write the book for my mom because I thought it was something she wanted to do. Now it is even more of a blessing because the three of us get to do it together.
How was I going to become a writer, if I didn’t have a story to write?
How were they going to have a book written if they couldn’t write it themselves?
My next encouragement for you is to help me help them purse these passions. Share their story and our website with people you know. Help them make the connections they need to accomplish their goals.
