(happy)

today, july 2nd, is my mom's 60th birthday.

(happy birthday cornelia ruth)

she deserves a party, 

but instead she is up past midnight as the hour strikes her birth day, 

baking cinnamon buns for those she loves, 

because that is the type of woman she is: 

she serves others without complaint and because it gives her joy.

she is a woman of faith, wisdom, beauty, and perseverance.

she is a mother, a pray-er, a writer, a teacher, a lover of truth, hope and beauty, 

a pilgrim, a friend and a sister. 

she loves words, going on adventures, children, integrity, music, a good leather chair, brand new journals, vanilla ice cream, talking on the phone, clean kitchen floors that have been scrubbed by hand, maine, coming up with theories on just about everything and watching radiant sunsets.

she will sidle right up to you, put her arm around your shoulder, come in close, and ask you how you are...how you really are, and then she will listen.

she will wake up at 4 in the morning to make you a pie or cinnamon buns because she heard that you like them, and she knows you've been having a rough week.

she will go completely out of her way to do you a favor or give you a ride or extend you some kindness.

she will treat you as if you were one of her own children.

she will eat leftover apple pie for breakfast.

she taught me that there are more important things in life 

than being concerned with the surface of things, 

that what matters is living with integrity regardless of who is watching.

today i celebrate my mom, 

and the richness of her character

and

 the way she has walked in grace and courage throughout her 60 years.

xoxo