"You Bet Your Sweet Bippy!"

That's something my mom used to say pretty often. It was when you were dead-on about something that she would use that phrase. I found myself thinking about that just yesterday as I was walking with my girls. It just popped into my head and I thought I needed to write about it. Finally, a post about my mom.

You haven't heard me talk about my parents at all. That's for a couple of reasons. The lamest one being not having any pictures of either of them on this new computer. Any pictures I have of them are either stored away or are somewhere in the hard drive of our old p.c. 

It was in July of 2004 that she went to be with the Lord. It was exactly one month after my dad passed away (and I definitely want to tell you all about him). I'm really not trying to depress you here. She just wasn't healthy and honestly I think she just gave up on living once my brother died 8 years prior to her passing. She didn't have a will to live. Thankfully she asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior just 2 years before she died. God gave me the great honor of leading her to Him. 

She was beautiful. We had such a special relationship all through my childhood. She used to like to sing a song called, "Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes", because out of seven children I was the only one that had them just like her. I am sixth in the line-up. After 4 girls were born, my dad finally got his way in naming me, Carol, after her. And most people say I look just like her. What a privilege.

I grew up in New Jersey in an apartment with 4 sisters, Denise, April, Cindy, and Tracey, and two brothers, Bobby, and Jimmy. Growing up in Hoboken was great! It was city life to the hilt. It's hard to believe what a country bumpkin I have since become. It might have to do with some of my cousins being from Indiana or the fact that I went to chiropractic college in Iowa. Who knows?! Growing up in Hoboken meant that the park was right across the street, my best friend, Annette, lived right down the hall from us in apartment 4B, and real Italian pizza can be bought on almost every corner. And boy is it delicious! I digress. This post is dedicated to mom, not Hoboken. 

She was a stay-at-home mom and worked a little when I was in high school. She made great food and she and my dad provided a good life for us. It wasn't always easy, though. My mom always believed in me. She was thrilled when I announced that I wanted to be a chiropractor. She wanted the best for me and encouraged me when classes were really tough. 

When I met Shawn, got married, and started to have children, she was happy. My mom supported me giving up my career to stay home with the children. I know that God's plans are perfect, but boy do I miss her and being able to learn from her. Our children didn't have the blessing of being around her long enough and being able to know the amazing love she had for each one of them. 

This is the best picture that I had scanned recently. I'll be digging out more to share with you as I talk about the love I had for my mom. 

Thanks for listening.