Celebrating Mom


Recently my son pulled out an old newspaper article that had been written about my mom. A whole section was devoted to her little log cabin she’d built.

I hadn’t read it since it had been written—and the words suddenly took on a depth I had never grasped before.


Back in 1974, Mom embarked on a journey—a career promotion, and moving to a new city. Back then, women were just becoming eligible to get credit cards in their own name. Starting over must have been hard.


But when she decided to build her own home, no bank would loan her money to begin. So, she made a drawing of a rectangular 600 square foot log cabin for county approval. She saved some of her salary, cashed in vacation time, and tapped into the needed labor through family and friends.


She couldn’t afford much, but in the end, it was all she ever needed.


I wish I would have told her how much I respected her efforts. But back then, my grumpy teenage self, somewhat resented being part of the free labor force. How short-sighted of me.



Only God knew I’d be living in the cabin she poured her earnings into.


As we honor our mothers, I had a strong-willed Woman’s Liberation, build-your-own life, and celebrate-every-victory kind of mother. I could write thousands of words about what I’d like to say to her now, but somehow, I think she knows I finally learned the lessons she was teaching.





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