3 Days Left to Enter My Honor Mom Giveaway

Only a few more days until I draw the two winners of my Honor Mom Giveaway. Contest is open to USA and Canada and entrants must be over 18. You can enter by sending an e-mail to annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com or leaving a comment here on this post with a way to contact you. 

Two winners will be picked by random drawing and one winner will get a beautiful NKJ Study Bible and one of my books and the other winner will get a complete set of my Rosey Corner books: Angel Sister, Small Town Girl, and Love Comes Home. The last book, Love Comes Home, just won the Selah Book of the Year Award. I'm still floating a little off the ground about that. :) Then today I had a guy friend tell me he'd read Love Comes Home and then went back and read Small Town Girl. I told him he might as well go on and read Angel Sister too even if he did go backwards through the books. I was pleased that he said he was right in the story and it didn't hurt that he hadn't read them in order.

Many of you have sent in heart-warming stories about your mothers with your entries. That wasn't a requirement to enter, but it's always fun when you share your stories. You had so many great stories that I won't be able to share them all, but I think you will enjoy these I am sharing today.

Corsages for Mother's Day

First here's one from Bonnie with a memory of how it used to be at churches on Mother's Day as she also shares how her mother is on the dementia path now. One I know too well after walking it with my mother. Bonnie says:

"I can't recall a specific Mother's Day that stands out from the rest - however, one memory is of my mother and I always having a corsage to wear to church on Mother's Day, when I was young. A practice that doesn't seem as popular anymore. As my mother is now in the early stages of Alzheimer's, I'm even more aware of the fact that I might not have her much longer, mentally or physically, and the need to take advantage of the time I do. She has always been an optimistic person, and remains so, even in the face of her disease - confident of God's plan for her life." 

May the Lord bless both you and your mother as you treasure good moments together, Bonnie.

Just an Old Wives' Tale

Now here's a story from Anne about her mother who didn't mind telling the doctor she was an "old wife."

Hi--my favorite "mother" story took place when I was less than a week away from giving birth to my daughter in 1987. My mother had come to stay with me and be with me for the birth. On Monday of that week (my daughter was born on Thursday) Mom went with me to my doctor's appointment. She asked him about the possibility of the baby coming on the day of the full moon that week. He said "Oh, that's just an old wives' tale." To which she responded "Well, I'm an old wife." Sure enough, the full moon was Thursday.

Mom has been gone now for 22 years, but I've made sure our family doesn't forget her or this story.

Thanks, Anne, for sharing your story with us. Sometimes those old wives knew.

A Lesson Learned on Mother's Day

Last we hear this extra sweet story from Felicia on a day she got a wake-up call about Mother's Day when her daughters gave her gifts from the heart.

"I'll share my favorite Mother's Day story although it's one I learned a lesson in. I was pregnant with my 5th child and we didn't have a lot of money. Only my husband was working. I was hot and miserable because we lived in Florida and my due date was July 16th. I had a hard time sleeping mostly because we had a water bed!!! I had to have my husband turn the heat off on it; I was just too hot. And we can't afford air conditioning, cable or even a phone! So I am sleeping in and my two oldest daughters are banging on my door. They are excited and I am grumpy. And I yelled at them for waking me up!! But it's Mother's Day so I get my grumpy self out of bed and go out into the living room and see what they want.

They had bought me gifts. They had saved their allowance and then went to yard sales our neighbors had and bought me presents for Mother's Day. They even made me cards! I was humbled after that. In awe of their creativeness and felt really terrible for having snapped at them. For wallowing in self pity when I couldn't see I had the greatest life of all!

For me it was the best Mother's Day because I realized at that point that I wasn't being the best Mother I could be. Not just Mother but person. And after seeing the thoughtfulness of my daughters and how much time and preparation went into it, I was just so appreciative. And grateful for the wake up call that Mother's Day.I remind myself of this day whenever I have a bad one. I learned a valuable lesson from my 2 daughters who were 7 & 9 years old!

Love your story, Felicia. All us moms understand your grumpiness. Pregnant and suffering in the heat! We'd be grumpy too. Then our hearts, like yours, are melted by the sweetness of your daughters. Thanks for sharing with us. 

Hope you all enjoyed the stories tonight. I'll let you know who wins on Sunday or maybe early Monday morning. A former pastor is coming to visit this weekend. So time for blogging may be limited.

As always, thanks for reading.

What's Your Favorite May Flower?

I have many favorite flowers even if that sort of contradicts the word "favorite." But each of the blooms is definitely a favorite when I'm looking at it or perhaps sniffing its fragrance or letting the flower walk me back a memory trail. Peonies do all of those things for me. I love the flowers. I love their spicy fragrance. I love their abundant blooms and the way they just come back year after year and decorate our yards. And I love the memories they bring. You see when I was a little girl, an aunt who was like a grandmother to me had two peony bushes in her yard. Bond lived at the homeplace so she and my father had probably grown up with those peonies blooming every year too. 

As you can see in the photo, I was impressed with the blooms at a very young age. That's my cute blonde sister on the left and me trying to pick a bloom instead of look at the camera. I did like those peony bushes. When I got a little older, I liked to run and leap over them. There were two bushes side by side in the middle of the yard. One bush wasn't as large as the other bush, so I could clear it easiest. I'm surprised my aunt didn't put a stop to my jumping game, but I don't suppose I ever hurt the bushes. Well, at least not too much. I'm so glad I was able to dig up a start from one of the bushes and plant it in my yard. It's a treasure trove of memories. 

The old homeplace was sold a few years ago and the house torn down. And then the new owners moved in a manufactured home and kept mowing down the peonies until now the bushes are no more. I know those bushes must have been there in that yard for over one hundred years, but the new owners didn't have the same treasured memories of them that I did. But I do wish I could have dug up more of the bulbs to let them continue growing somewhere else. A little bit of my heritage of flower loving ancestors. But at least they are still blooming in my yard and even if they weren't, they would still be blooming in my memory.

Do you have any flowers like that in your memory?


Don't Forget to Enter the Honor Mom Contest 

If you haven't entered my Honor Mom Giveaway Contest, you still have time. Deadline is midnight EST on May 30, 2015. To enter leave a comment here on my blog posts in May with a way to contact you should you be a winner. The contest is open to USA and Canada. You must be 18 to enter. 

Some of you who get my newsletter said you had a hard time replying to that e-mail. I'm sorry if you had difficulty. I appreciate those of you who didn't give up and managed to get the message sent. But I know that sort of thing is frustrating. I've also had some of you say it's hard to leave comments here on my blog posts. I don't know why, but if you would rather enter by sending me an e-mail here's my address. annhgabhart(at)hughes(dot)net. 

If you want, you can share a favorite Mother's Day memory with me. That's not necessary to enter, but I like reading your stories. If you missed Sandi's story on my last blog post, you should go back and read it. Sandi knows how to tell a story to make you laugh. Just click on the Because I Said So Mom.

One prize in my Honor Mom Giveaway is the beautiful New King James Version study Bible pictured above along with the winner's choice of one of my books. 

Another prize is an autographed set of my Rosey Corner books, Angel Sister, Small Town Girl and Love Comes Home. Mom's stories about growing up during the Depression inspired my Rosey Corner so those books seemed the right prize for an Honor Mom Giveaway.

Thanks for reading. And I'd love to hear about your Mother's Day or your favorite May flowers.

A Giveaway to Honor Mom

                    

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

Missing Mom

I'm missing my mother today on my first ever Mother's Day without her. As most of you know, Mom went home to be with the Lord in July last year. She had walked a tough path of dementia the last few years of her life. But today I'm missing her smile. Mom enjoyed life. She loved her family and took joy in her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She had so much love in her heart as most mothers do. So I hunted up a couple of pictures showing her with lots of smiles. 

Honor Mom Giveaway Contest

To honor Mom's memory this month, I'm having an Honor Mom Giveway Contest. I sent out the details of the giveaway in a newsletter yesterday. (If you didn't get it, but would like to, you can let me know and I'll add you to my e-mail newsletter list.) 

1st Prize

1st prize in the contest is a beautiful New King James study Bible. What mother wouldn't like that or wouldn't like for you to win that? That winner will also get his or her choice of one of my autographed books. 

2nd Prize

2nd prize is an autographed set of my Rosey Corner books, Angel Sister, Small Town Girl, and Love Comes Home. I picked those as a prize since Mom and all the stories she told me about growing up during the Great Depression were the inspiration for Angel Sister. Some of you may already have the books or have already read the stories, but I'm sure you have a reading friend who might enjoy the stories too should you win. 


To Enter

To enter you can send me an e-mail at annhgabhart(at)hughes(dot)net or leave a comment here on one of my blog posts in May with a way to contact you should you be a lucky winner. The deadline for entries is midnight EST on May 30, 2015. The contest is open to USA and Canada. (Sorry, international readers, but that Bible is heavy.) Also, you must be 18 to enter. 

If you want, you can share a favorite Mother's Day memory with me. That's not necessary to enter, but we always have fun sharing stories here. 

A Mother's Day Story

Some of you have already entered and shared some stories. This one from Janet made me reach for the tissue box.

"My first Mother's Day without Mama was 2 years ago. As you said, you knew your Mom loved you even though she couldn't say it.

My Mother who also had Dementia fell 2 days before she died. I went into the ER room and told the doctor she was my Mom. As soon as my mother heard my voice, she said, "Is that Janet"? I had not heard Mama say my name in 3 years. She knew I was her daughter but she didn't know my 2 sisters. She only knew them as very nice ladies who were taking care of her.

My favorite Mother's Day memory is being with her at the church she went to. She would see me sitting in the pew and her face would just light up. Oh, how I miss that!

I better go blow my nose and wipe my eyes. It's hard to type and cry at the same time."

Thank you for sharing that with us, Janet. That had to be a heart gift to you to have your mother speak your name.

Thanks, everyone, for reading.