We have two daughters, Jessica and Kristine.  As life happened, we were blessed with their births five years apart from each other.  One is a brunette and the other a blonde. One looks like my side of the family, the other like my husband's family.  Both of them are two of God's greatest gifts.

I often think back over the years and wonder how life would have been different had they not arrived?  Where would we be now and what would our lives be like?  Personally I find it hard to imagine life without them and the joy they have brought into my life. Birthday parties, family dinners, recitals, long car rides, Christmas mornings, strength and love. 

Both daughters have grown into amazing women.  While both married wonderful men, they also have lives that call to them individually.  The eldest is an elementary school teacher.  No, not just a teacher, she is an amazing person devoted to children, helping them to succeed and look at the world through different colored glasses.  She is exceptionally strong and determined.  Not afraid to take a stand for what is right she holds her head high and forges forward against adversity.  Long ago she explained to me there were two goals in her life.  One was to be what she used to call a 'checker', (otherwise known as a cashier at a grocery store) the other a teacher.  The first goal helped her to obtain the second by working through high school and college as a cashier and embarking on her teaching career upon graduation from college.  She treasures life around her, respects people and her environment and strives to make the best with what she has.  For that I am grateful.

The youngest has chosen to be a stay at home mom of four sons.  She is devoted to her children, caring for them every day.  Rocking her children all night long when they don't feel good, dirty dishes in the kitchen, tubbies every night to wash the dirt off and arms full of love for each of her sons.  The daily drudgery that comes with being a mother is something she takes in stride, something she deals with, with perseverance and pride.  She is also a person who brings joy and happiness to others through the baking she does.  She is a cake decorator, a hobby she discovered a few years ago.  She prefers to give away her cakes rather than sell them.  Pay it forward so to speak.  It also pays back for the good that has come to them. One cake is more amazing than the next and the gratitude and smiles from people gifted with her cakes is amazing. 

Now, each of them has had to face situations in their life that no mother would wish on any of her children.  Times that stretch patience, cause tears and make a person to just want to quit sometimes.  They haven't quit.  They fight, fail, grow, succeed and take one step in front of the other in spite of the problems at hand. 

I would like to say that our lives together have been as wonderful as a tall glass of homemade lemonade on a warm, sunny summer afternoon.  It has not been that way of course as we are all human.  The sugar was sometimes missing from the glass and every now and then we encountered a seed or two along the way.  Arguments over cleaning a bedroom or staying out too late, maybe the dishes should have been done instead of the computer games being played or simple disagreements about whether the water should run while you are washing dishes as opposed to turning it on and off every time you wash a dish and rinse it to conserve water.   

I will take each of these moments with no regrets.  I will take the time spent with each daughter as a gift from God.  He has his reasons for giving me these two amazing women.  Some day when I return home to see Him, He will let me know why He chose these two for me.  Until then, I will accept any time I get with them in their now busy lives.  I will cherish the phone call for no other purpose than to complain about something that just happened and I will cherish the call that comes on my birthday because it is placed with love in their hearts. 

No matter what life brings I have two pillars of strength that stand beside me, tall and steady.  Two amazing women that I honor and respect with my entire being.  For this I thank God, for I am grateful for them in my life.  I love you both......