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Recently my mom was here from Toronto on her annual winter visit. My mom has spent her life as a beautiful, energetic "can-do" woman. I have so many memories of the clicking sound of her high heels, holding onto her coat hem as a little girl just to try and keep up as she clipped along! She was the mom everyone called "mom" in our church's youth group. We'd have loads of kids over to go to a park to play baseball and then come back to our house afterwards for spaghetti and meatballs. Mom could wack that ball and run like no other mother I knew!! 

In her mid to late sixties, she'd hike along the waterfront in her city, just north of Toronto, with her two Shelties. Those dogs got two to three hikes a day. I still remember when (also in her sixties) she got a pair of inline skates!! What a woman!

Just a few years ago, my mom had a hip replacement. That certainly slowed her down. After that, she had breast cancer, which I'm grateful to say she survived. But age and life's bumps have inevitably slowed her down.

Mom's in her 80th year now. Physically, she's slower (but when I studied her eyes, I could see serious life and vitality), she struggles with her hearing, and she needs a solid nap every day. I had to remember to not push her too hard. Sometimes I'd forget.

Before she arrived for this visit, I settled on two things I could really focus on while she was here in order to accept her where she is:

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

I know there's much more to love than that, but I can get overwhelmed, especially when those two things were the very things I so needed to love mom while she visited. Come to think of it, I can always use that in my marriage, too!

Happy Valentine's Day to you, dear ladies. Love well!

You were created to be lovely. Be lovely.

Nancy

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