I started this post on Mother's Day.  I want to share how much I love and appreciate my Mom.  She is an amazing woman.  There is no more difficult or important job than that of a mother and My Mom is the best.  She raised 8 children and now has 21 grandchildren that she stays very involved with.
My Mom has taught me many important lessons in my life.  She taught me to be respectful through example and insisting that her children treat everyone with respect, even each other.  She taught me to work hard.  I know few people who work as hard and accomplish as much as my Mom.  All of her children are very hard workers.  Mom taught me to have a positive attitude even when faced with challenges and difficult times.  She doesn't let things get her down very often.  She taught me that it doesn't do much good to complain.  When our family was going through a difficult time my Mom said "When you have to, you just do."
I admire my Mother very much.  I am the oldest child in my family.  When I was born I would cry.  I don't mean a little bit for a little while, I would really cry for hours.  I don't know how my Mother dealt with it except her attitude of when you have to you just do.  What really amazed me is that my sister, Heather was born 15 months after I was.

I included this four generation picture because as a family historian I've come to learn that we are influenced by those that came before us even if we never knew them or don't remember them.  I know that my Mother and Grandmother have had a great influence in my life and their mothers and grandmothers had a great influence in their lives.  That is how my Grandma Forsyth pictured here has had an influence in my life even though I don't remember her.