Mom

I know I am a bit late with the Mother's Day wishes but showing your love and appreciation for motherhood should not be limited to one day a year, right?

I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful mother figures in my life and I have learned so much from each of them. I love them and I'm so grateful for the place they hold in my heart and in my life.

However, I wanted to dedicate this post to a wonderful woman who has made a great impression in my life.....

My beautiful Mom, Tessie!

Mother's Day is a very emotional day for me. Not only because I love all the wonderful things my kids make and say to me, but because I am reminded of how much I still need my mom. I don't think we EVER stop needing our mom's and many times I feel cheated that I didn't get to have her for very long and through some of the hardest and most special times in my life.

I have wanted to share so many things with her, like my marriage. She was always so fun to be around. My friends would tell me how "cool" my mom was and being the pre-teen that I was, part of me was embarrassed that they thought she was so "cool". (you're parents are NEVER cool, right?) But, they were right and I know Chet would've loved her and she would've loved him!

Also, the birth of my babies. She LOVED babies and I know she would've spoiled these kids rotten. I have needed her so many times through these last 13 years of having kids.

I have so many questions to ask her like... did she struggle like I did with her last baby? What were her pregnancies like? What did she think? How did she feel? Among so many other things.

I wonder about what things I could have learned about...
Like, would I have learned to speak Tagalog better? Would she have taught me how to cook some of my Grandma's wonderful Filipino dishes?

(I love the four generation pictures but was never able to have one which makes me sad.)

Would I have learned more about what her childhood was like?

I miss her so VERY much! I have often felt her presence and comfort. I dream of her often. The thought of her keeps me going and I do a lot of the things I do because I want to make her proud of me. She had a lot of hurt in her life and I can not stand the thought of disappointing her and causing her even more pain. She really is a very strong influence in my life...even today.

I wish you all could have known her. She was beautiful inside and out. I just want to share a few things about her.

Teresita Corpuz Diamse Burr was born in Tarlac, Philippines on Sept 14, 1951. She was the second child and first daughter of nine kids. She met my dad while he was on his mission and came to the states after he got home and married in the Salt Lake Temple on Sept 10, 1970. She worked for as long as I can remember at a place called "Sperry" and she LOVED to shop! Many times she would wake me up and make me go with her every Saturday...I hated shopping then but have come to appreciate it since. She loved high heels...she would always, ALWAYS wear them with everything she wore, including jeans. (I guess that's where my love of heels came from!) She made killer homemade spaghetti sauce and carrot cake. She had one brother still in the PI and she would always collect items and make care packages to send to him and his family. She had an amazing heart and compassion for others. She made many friends everywhere she went. You couldn't help but just love her. She built her dream home in West Jordan and lived there for 3 months before she died in a car accident on Sept 5, 1987.

I am so grateful to have had almost 13 years with her. I have so many wonderful memories of her but that is an entirely different post!

I love you so much mom. I miss you!