HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!

MOTHERS DAY: The day most mothers wish didn’t exist.

Who has a great mother.... probably most of us...however many of us think that only applies if your taking the continuum of generations backwards or forwards, . I think my mothers is AWESOME, I also think my sisters, daughters and daughters in law are awesome. I also had awesome grandmothers. However I would never attach that same praise to myself and most mothers I know would not think themselves great mothers.

So in honor of a great mother, who is also a great teacher. That would be my mother. Due to the fact that my father was killed when I was 8, I cannot for a fact say that all these lessons so aptly taught to me came from my mother, most likely they were.

Thanks for the great lessons Mom..you are wise, smart, thoughtful, ingenious and the list goes on and on.

Lessons of Life taught by Vivian Merikofer Terry Murdock

That I try and live by every day of my life.

*Buck up!

Stop whining, bend down, take a deep breath, own the problem and make things right. Also means make the best of what Gods has given you, you can learn from the hard things. Dig for that inner strength you need to get through hard things.

*Always take the high road.

In all of life roads we take, especially in our relationships, we CHOOSE if we take offense or not, if we gossip or not, if we keep our word or not. Always take the right (high) road.

*Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

In other words be grateful when you are presented with a gift and don’t stop to access it for further value. Be gracious.

*You made your bed now lie in it.

You get what you earn. If you make poor choices, you get the consequences. Take them and live with them and stop whining about it. If you don’t like it change it.

*An honest days work for an honest days pay.

No job is beneath you as long as you do it the best you can. Never steal or cheat your way through any job, it will always catch you.

*Get your education!!!

IF you don't think you need it, every teenager should have a ditch digging job, then she will learn. In Alpine vernacular that means menial hard, back breaking labor for little money.

*”That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.”

Don’t criticize others for things you are guilty of yourself.

*A mans word is all you need.

No contracts needed..just your word. However you will lose peoples trust quickly should you fail to keep your word, and trust is one of the hardest things to earn back.

*You don’t DESERVE anything but the air you breathe and a family who loves

you......everything else you must earn!

Quit being lazy, looking for a short cut or someone or something (Government) to hand things to you. It’s your job to go out there and make for yourself, things that are important to you. Do it with honor!

The most valuable lesson my mother taught me came at the age of 12. It was “Tradition” For most of my friends certain ages were ones to look forward to. 5yrs Yea kindergarten starts or 8yrs I get baptized, best yet 16yrs I get to date, to bad the boys didn't catch onto that one. For our family the magic birthday was 12. Now if you were a boy and LDS that age makes sense and even if you were a girl, it meant leaving Primary and going to Mutual, yes it was called Mutual many years ago. In our family it meant you were an adult and now fully capable of being financially independent of mom and dad. Yes you could continue living at home and eating with the family, mom wasn’t that harsh. It did mean you had to earn any and all money you expected to spend. That meant all expenses related to you. Camp fees, school fees, school supplies, all clothing, (yes even underware), gas, tires, gifts etc.. Mom would continue to buy your glasses if you were so unlucky to need them. When birthdays and Christmas after the age of 12, rolled around our gifts were not frivolous, they were things we needed. Yes we occasionally got things like a transistor radio, alarm clock, and even a LP.

I wasn’t all that thrilled at the age of 12 with this ‘gift” of adult hood. I knew what it meant. I had seen it with my older sisters and brothers. But what this gift of financial independence taught me was to discern between Need and Want. To prioritize my needs and to realize it’s no shame to buy secondhand, to go without the name brands and more clothes than I truly needed. I also learned to work hard, and earning 10 cents an hour babysitting 6 children under the age of 8 for the neighbors was hard work. These were not easy children. Picking berries, apples or other farm type chores were equally hard and at times distasteful and arduous. I learned to take care of what we had and to be grateful for it. Delayed gratification was the norm by the time I left home. Sure there were times I spent un-wisely but overall I learned to be quite self sufficient and stubborn too. Would I change this gift if I could, NEVER, too many awesome things became ingrained into my inner self. Those lessons made me who I am, and really I quite like myself most days. I still think I have a long, long way to become as great a mother as my MOM, but I'm working on it.

THANKS MOM for teaching me so well. I won’t consider me to be half the mother you are, but the good part of me I owe to you!