Time Is Most Important

Better late than never for a blog post today. I have spent the last two days having a girls "weekend" with Jess and my mom before Jess heads back off to school. We crammed a lot of fun things into our two days, along with even getting our picture taken with the Easter Bunny..... sort of ;o) I have learned, over the last few years, that time is the most important thing in life you can give.

My father died over 10 years ago leaving my mom by herself. She always had her brother to go down and visit, but most of the time she was here living alone. If you have been reading my blog for very long, you know that my mom's brother passed away a few months ago as well, leaving my my totally alone except for my sister and I and our families.

I can't even begin to understand how that must feel, only being 63 years old and surviving both parents, both siblings and your spouse: I would imagine it is quite immortalizing to say the least. Needless to say my mother has gotten a little lonely.

I have always been quite conscience of my mom's well being ever since dad died, but this last 6 months most especially. I have started going out with her once a week to lunch and grocery shopping and I think it really helps push her out of the house. I have also started taking once a month to do something a little bigger (a non-errand related activity). We have gone to museums, aquariums, zoos, shows and are starting to plan our trip to Hawaii...... I have never seen my mom so giddy in my entire life than when we plan and shop for that trip. It is SO fun to watch!!

Jess and I just spent two days with her, and had a slumber party at her house. We didn't do anything fancy, just spent time together. We played with the baby chicks, wandered through furniture stores and nurseries, spent hours looking at all of my mom's antique jewelry, played games, watched a movie and ate lots of food.

The point is, it doesn't take a lot to make someone happy - all it takes is your time. Since I have started spending this time with my mother we have become even closer than we were before and she is really starting to come out of her shell. It is worth every minute I spend.