Ever since I was little, I’ve heard stories about my birth. I’ve been told how my mom got sick during my aunt’s wedding, and had to leave early. How she was rushed off to the hospital in the middle of the night via ambulance – scaring my almost 2 year old brother. I’ve been told what a scary situation it was – how the odds were stacked against my mom (and me) to even survive. And most importantly, how she is a miracle woman, and even though they told my dad there was little chance she would walk out of that hospital…she did. The doctors told her how crazy she was to have another child after that ordeal – but she loved being a mother, and she was our miracle woman.

I always knew what a strong and wonderful woman she was, but she proved it yet again 2 and a half years ago. A week before Christmas of 2009, my mom was diagnosed with a meningioma, a tumor the size of a baseball that was growing in the middle of her brain. To me, it was unbelievably scary, but she handled it the way she handles everything – with a big smile on her face and an attitude that everything was going to turn out just fine.

Even scarier yet, was the morning after my mom’s surgery that removed the tumor from her brain. She suffered a epidural hematoma – a result of a pre-surgery procedure. There was little chance that she would come out of the second surgery and be OK.

And yet, in true miracle woman fashion, she was. She opened her eyes that night and from that second on got better and better. A week later it would be hard to tell she was a woman that just had 2 very serious brain surgeries. To this day you would have no idea it ever happened.

Me with my mother

Since it is Mother’s Day, I could name all of the ways that my mom has made a difference in my life, all of the things she has taught me, and how much I love her. I’d be writing for hours and hours. Instead, I just wanted to pay homage to a woman who I thank my lucky stars for every single day. My mom, my miracle woman.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! I sure do love you.