To the Moms and The Grans We May Never Have Known

Here's to my Mom.

She loved me as a baby...

...and she loved me till the day she died, with all the hopes and pride and worries that I think most moms probably have.

She adored her mother, too -- the grandmother I never knew. She died five months before I was born.

But I think of her as a beautiful bride, one who gave us not only my mom but three aunts I adored.

Here's to my great grandmother, the mother of the gran above. No, I didn't know her either. But I have learned so much of her story in my genealogy research, even visiting the church where she was christened in England.

Here's to my dad's mom. She was lovely, wasn't she?

And she was a terrific grandma, teaching me about life on the farm and giving me a passion for baking.
 

She loved to laugh. And I loved her.

Here's to all the moms, past and present, the ones we knew and the ones we didn't. And if you are a mom, Happy Mother's Day.