The Sunrise Story

My mom turns 71 on August 13th. No one loves her birthday more than my mother! She celebrates the whole month. Who am I kidding? Mom knows how to celebrate every day. Just this morning, I called her and she's having fun playing with her grandchildren who had a sleepover last night. Mom has a child-like spirit. Maybe that came from her years as a first-grade teacher. I loved visiting her classroom and seeing her read aloud to her students or work with them on their writing.  Reading with her grandchildren. Happy Birthday Month, Mom!  Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers .

1. She's my mom! 2. Her laugh is the best! 3. Gives great advice! 4. She loves me! 5. She loves my sister! 6. Being Grammy is the best! 7. She's a great big sister! 8. Mom's a teacher who loves her students! 9. She is the best read-alouder! 10. She's cute! 11. She loves to wear cute shoes! 12. Mom cares about everyone! 13. She's always encouraged me to follow my heart! 14. Mom is a reader. 15. We recommend books to each other.  16. Mom bought me my first notebook. 17. She encourages my writing. 18. Mom tries to be tech savvy. 19. "Air internet." Her description of internet 20. "Hand pictures." These are not pictures of hands, these are pictures you can hold in your hands. 21. "The cloud." She doesn't even want to know. 22. She visits me in Virginia.  23. We share a love of being in the ocean. 24. Mom goes to the gym everyday! GO Mom! 25. She's passionate about her grandchildren. 26. She tolerates Bell...

I am the daughter of a teacher. I guess it's no mystery why I am a teacher. Growing up holds memories of visiting my mom's classroom and meeting her kids. "Her kids"...that's how she always referred to her students. I remember every Thursday night was the night she sat down at the kitchen table and spread out her lesson plan book and her manuals (Remember...with the spirals?!?!) and she would write out her plans for the week. I remember listening to her read aloud books to her students whenever I visited. I remember her kids hugging her and how much she loved each and every student. This week was my mom's last week of teaching. She started in 1968 (that's forty-eight years ago). Most of her years spent in the classroom have been spent with first graders. She "officially retired" seven years ago, but quickly returned to the classroom, part time. Thursday she said goodbye. Here's what she posted on Facebook:  My mom loves teaching. She loves...

Here's a list JUST for my mom!!! I'm grateful for... 1. My mom 2. Daily phone calls 3. Sharing book recommendations 4. Talking about teaching 5. How cute she is 6. What a great grandmother she is 7. Shopping together 8. Trips 9. Swimming in the ocean 10. How much she loves her family!

Each week on Saturday  bloggers celebrate at  Ruth Ayres Writes .  Won't you join us?  So much to celebrate this week! Last Saturday I added a new member to my family...my dog, Bella. Today marks a week that we've been together and the adjustment is going well, mostly. (I forgot how hard the beginning part of this can be.) She's settling in and feeling comfortable...this morning, she even jumped up and sat in my lap to cuddle for a bit. Sunday arrived and I got to meet one of my blogging friend IRL...in real life! Catherine was close by and we met for brunch on Sunday. How amazing it was to spend time talking with someone and sharing stories about teaching, books, and life! What a perfect way to spend a Sunday!! Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I have an amazing mother. She is sweet and smart and funny and kind and cute and I love her so much! We talk every morning and it's the perfect way to start my day! Living far away from her can be hard...sometime...