World's Best Mother-in-Law

Now it may sound like I'm trying to make points or do some brown nosing here, but I'm really not. She really is. This woman has done nothing but try and help us our entire marriage. I'm not saying she's pushy (but she'd be the first to admit she sometimes is) I'm saying she is concerned.

When she married, her husband was 9 years older than she and a recent convert. They struggled really hard because he had been married before and had child support. The ex was always taking them to court to increase the amount of that payment, but she was such a good organizer, that it could never be awarded because the judge would know exactly what their income and outgo ratio was.

She had 5 children that she raised on basically a shoe string, sewing their clothes, remaking clothes from their father for Sunday, canning everything she could, growing everything they could. When they had a chance to sell their house and move to a bigger one (the one we live in now...grin) she pushed the move because they lived really close to a canal, and my husband almost fell in when he was a baby.

They did a lot of the work on the house themselves (and never really stopped...lol), remodeling and remodeling until the house really doesn't resemble the original very much. I have to say I have mixed feelings about it...the original house had more bedrooms! grin.

When my husband was in school, she decided to start working. My father-in-law finally had a stable job, but it wasn't a very high paying one and she knew if she wanted any kind of life after retirement, she needed to work too. She started out as a secretary, and then moved to the educational system. By the time my hubby was graduating high school and going onto college, she was working on a masters degree. She ended up being an administrator and making quite a name for herself in the high school circles for being a good teacher (people STILL remember her) and vocational advocate.

When my hubby and I got married, we were able to have a house because of her. (Many times we wonder if we should have done the apartment bit -- but hindsight is always that...what if) It was a small house with two bedrooms, but it was perfect. They had started a remodel on it because it had been in bad shape -- so we inherited the remodeling bug.

Throughout our years of marriage, there have been many different times when we've been in financial difficulty, and she's always been there, able and ready to help us. She has handled all of that aspect professionally, there is a line drawn between family and money -- but it all works out to the satisfaction of both parties.

Recently, their ward has been encouraging the three month supply. (I'm sure that sounds familiar to most of you!) In fact, since her ward is mainly made up of retirees...they have asked them to help their extended family get theirs in. In contemplating that job (she has 5 children with 31 grandchildren and innumerable great grandchildren -- she has since been widowed and remarried a man who has several children of his own) she decided that instead of taking a long trip this fall (she loves to see the fall leaves and has been quite the world traveler most of my marriage -- when the twins were born she and her hubby were in China...grin) she would help her children and grandchildren get their three month supply during the case lot sales.

We were the beneficiaries of this project, and went shopping with her on Monday. Man oh man...we weren't the only ones; the girl at the cash register said they had 9 carts come through! But when we added up all the one's my Mother-in-law had purchased for the past week, she had already done up to 11. (We had three, stacked high)

As we got home and ended up piling the items in our family room because the storage room hadn't been cleaned out yet -- our project over UEA...sigh -- I reflected upon how much she has given us, and helped us over the years. She may not be a saint, but she's getting there, and I know we are most grateful that we know her and have her in our lives. And not just because of what she is able to give us. She's a sweetheart and my children are very thankful to have their Grandma!

So, here's to you, mom. It's not mothers day, it's not any special occasion other than we want the world to know that we love, appreciate and thank you for all you do.

SWAK!