54. Paint pottery with my mom

I love my mom very much. She is truly an amazing woman. She would totally put the girls on MTV's "16 & Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" to shame. Mom got pregnant with me when she was 14 and had me just shy of turning 15. She finished high school a year early. She married at 19 and after 30 years she is still married to the same man. She has raised two girls, held her dying mother's hand every night for 6 months, buried her father 8 weeks after her mother, buried one brother while taking care of the other 7 brothers and sisters and has pretty much gotten nothing in return for any of it other than her own peace of mind. She is the most unselfish, kind, caring woman I know. So although I don't think it's asking too much to honor her one day out of the year, sometimes it's very hard knowing just HOW to honor her. Anyone can get a card, send flowers, put a picture in a frame and wrap it up. Buying another trinket to put on a shelf only to be forgotten in a few months just didn't seem like enough. So this year I tried to put a little more thought into something that she could enjoy, something that was just for her and something that was a little out of the ordinary for this extraordinary woman.

Having kids of my own has taught me how quickly time with your children passes. So I decided to give her something that money couldn't buy...time spent alone...just the two of us...mother and daughter. I felt like we needed something to do though, so I decided to treat her to an afternoon of painting pottery at Half Baked Pottery in Broad Ripple. It's something I always wanted to do myself and I thought that whatever we decided to paint would be a thought-filled memento to remind her of our time spent together.

Mom came over around noon and after a no expenses spared lunch at Taco Bell we headed out to paint our pottery. Mom chose a plate to put in her dining room similar to another she has and I opted for a small serving dish. We spent the rest of our afternoon quietly painting, laughing and just enjoying one another's company. It was everything that I hoped it would be...just an afternoon spent between a mother and her child.

PS...We can't pick up our pieces until May 15, so I'll have to post them later. Until then...here's to another item crossed off the bucket list.