Happy Pre-Mother's Day

Since tomorrow will be devoted to MY Mom, I thought I'd give a little shout-out to the other moms in my life who have influenced me and helped make me what I am today (er...that's a good thing - trust me).

First of all, the wonderful Mrs. Huss.

I met her daughter, Jeanine, on the first day of 1st grade, and we basically lived at each other's houses until they moved when we were 13. Mrs. Huss made the best granola. They had cable TV and a volvo. Both of Jeanine's parents ran...for fun. We did chores. We played stickball in her yard. She helped us sew tooth-fairy pillows and really bad 80s shirts. Much like my own mom, Mrs. Huss wasn't a girly-girl. She had fun, got things done, and she's what I wanted to be when I grew up. Around the time I got married, she sent me her granola recipe. Whenever I want to find a warm happy place, I open my cookbook to that card and see her perfect teacher handwriting - I follow her instructions on the amount of wheat germ and how often to turn the crunchy goodness in the oven - and everything is warm and wonderful.

Then there were my formative years...

Since I wasn't in the practice of taking pictures of mothers when I was younger, here are the KIDS of those influential women - my best friends growing up and, really, today...mostly. From the top - Pam, Tim, Amy, John, Bill, and Jane. If Bill looks a little funny, it's because he wasn't actually on this trip, but a certain "ex" of John's was. Didn't want her in the picture, wanted Bill - and voila - really sloppy photo editing. Sorry your head's a little small, Bill... Anyhow, my teen years would not have been complete without Mrs. Moseley, Mrs. Russell, Mrs. Pomerance, Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Huber, and Mrs. Bricker. They had basements and let us have parties (we were good kids, so no worries there). We had movie-thons. You let us talk on the phone way too late because you trusted us. You gave us safe places to hang out. You taught me that moms can have pretty sick senses of humor. We had late-night calculus study sessions, and you fixed snacks. You cared about all of us, and you told us in both actions and words. I vented to, cried on, hugged, and needed - and you were there. Thank you.

My father's sister, Aunt Anne:

You grew up in a small Georgia farming community and moved away. That was so cool to me - away. My grandmother took me to see you when I was 10, and it seemed like such a great life. So different. You married a man from Canada who spoke French. You let me play dress-up in your nightgowns. I later visited again when I was in college, and I got to spend more time with my cousin, who is just the coolest kid. You introduced me to tabbouleh and babaganush, sweet orange marmalade on pumpernickel bread, strong exotic coffees, and Nutella. You represented a freedom that was so very magical to me.

And those kooky Georgia ladies Nancy and Joann (middle two, below):

When we met, Nancy was skating across a hardwood floor in her socks as the rest of y'all sat around drinking wine and laughing. Little did I know that the silliness would never stop. We've been to Italy with Nancy, St Louis with Joann, and the wine and fun kept flowing. And when you came up to see us one fall...you raked leaves and picked up sticks in our yard! You are bundles of energy and kindness, and we're very glad to know you.

Lastly, our New York mother - Barb.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have - I'm usually so distracted by kids doing daredevil things (or adults playing with large fires) that I don't have many good people shots from your parties. You and Coke have opened up your home to us, and from the very first moments, we truly felt welcome. You laugh as we consume too much "company product" and fix the BEST breakfasts the next day. You're one of the few folks who actually read my self-indulgent blog, and you have raised some pretty amazing kids and grandkids. If it's okay with you, Joe and I are adopting you and Coke as our folks-away-from-home. :)

To all of you wonderful mothers out there - I hope you have a fantastic weekend and know how much you mean to me.