A Tribute to Our Mothers

Both my husband's mother and my mother died the same year, 2007. Both of them had sacrificed all of their lives to take care of those around them.

My mother, Carol, had a beautiful soprano voice, and she was a featured soloist in her choir in high school. She sometimes sang duets with her father. She was raised in a small town in Sanpete County, Utah. She loved ice skating, dancing, and singing. She met my father at a dance. Once she was married, mother developed her talents of cooking. She made the best pies, tomato soup cake, raisin-filled cookies, and other baked goods. She also enjoyed beautifying her home, painting ceramics, doing embroidery and other handwork. Mother lovingly cared for her own mother and her mother-in-law in their latter years and sacrificing her own health in doing so.

Here is a poem I shared at my mother's funeral:

As I reflect on the times that I remember her best,

it seems she was always enduring a test.

Of a life changing moment a love one had faced

or the choice of a path that was taken in haste.

She watched all her children,

as each found their way,

and each of the four knew where their place lay.

In the heart and the mind of a woman who knew

each child was a flower with its own special hue.

She left us too early, but she's not really gone,

as she's in all of us, so her beauty goes on.

And the wisdom and humor she showed through her days

is in each of us and displayed many ways.

She lives on in her children and in their children as well,

and all the great grands the uniqueness we'll tell.

Of this very special person with a heart full of love

who left with us memories and thoughts from above.

Her passing left the world a little less colorful and a lot less interesting. But even in grief, we know we are so lucky to have had this loving woman in our lives, and now in our hearts forever.

My husband's mother, Luisa, was half Caucasian and half Tongan. She was a beautiful lady with many gifts. She could sew, cook, dance and always had a smile on her face. Besides her eight natural children, she took care of many other children who consider her their mother. She and her husband served several missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She also worked as a dorm mother at Liahona High School in Tonga.

When we lived in Tonga, I would often leave my children with Luisa and Vili, her husband. I was often surprised when I returned to pick up the children only to find she had sewn them new outfits. She was an excellent seamstress and would sew without patterns. She would also bake cakes and then decorate them beautifully. She lived most of her life in Tonga until her husband passed away after which she remained in the United States, living with her children and their families.

Her children rise up and call her blessed: her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. ~ Proverbs 31:28-29

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates. ~ Proverbs 31:30-31

I shall never forget my mother, for it was she who planted and nurtured the first seeds of good within me. ~ Immanuel Kant

Beauty is God's handwriting. ~ Charles Kingsley

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. ~ Storm Jameson

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6

The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her. ~ George Washington.

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence. ~ Plato

There is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother. ~ Washington Irving

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. ~ W.R. Wallace

From A - Z, a mother is an: administrator, baker, counselor, diplomat, efficiency expert, friend, gardener, home economist, inspirationalist, judge, kitchen authority, leader, mediator, nurturer, organizer, pedagogue, quality analyst, recreation leader, spiritual director, teacher, umpire, vacation planner, willing worker, holiday activities director, youth playground supervisor and a zest-filled encourager.

Sayings and quotes from Mother, I Love You by Helen Steiner Rice.