Half a Century!

My mom turned 50 on Saturday! She has been wanting to turn 50 just so that she could joing the Red Hat Society and now she finally can! In that respect, I threw her a Red Hat Society party!

This is a woman who has climbed many mountains during her 50 years. She survived two older brothers. She bares the scar from when she had a glass jar of marbles and fell down the stairs with it and cut her neck. She bares a scar from when she touched a hot iron with her hand and to this day, cannot fully stretch her thumb out. She married for the first time at 15, dropped out of high school and then had her first child at 16. She was divorced by 20 and pregnant with me. She raised my brother and I in a couple of apartments, while working for a few years and then met the man she thought would be her saving grace and our saving grace. He moved us to a home in the small town of Smyrna. They then had another child. We built our lives there, went to school there and cowered in fear of this man. She realized her mistake and eventually left that big town of Smyrna to become a single parent again. From that point in 1992 she became this strong woman who could manage a career, her teenage daughter and young son. We struggled. a. lot. We struggled with teenage issues, money, ex-husbands and growing up. Well, eventually, the man of her dreams really did come. He wasn't in disguise this time. He really did sweep her off her feet and save her. He rode in on his Harley. She has now been happily married for eight years, living in a house she loves and running a successful career. She is now a wife, a Grammy, a mother and a friend. She has been my saving grace. We love you mom!!!

Malia