Happy Mother's Day!

That best academy, a mother's knee.
James Russell Lowell, poet, critic and diplomat

The other day, as I was making homemade cream cheese, I began to think of my mom and a little dish she used to make for us when I was around 7 years old.

We lived in Mexico at the time; camping out because housing through my dad's job had fallen through. All six of us kids, plus our parents, lived in a tent and a van. It was a fair drive outside of town where my dad worked teaching English. Occasionally, when my dad brought fresh milk home, it would spoil and sour.

My mom would take that sour milk, which many people would deem unusable, and boil it up. The heat would cause the curds to separate from the whey and after straining the milk and collecting the curds, my mom would add honey (and perhaps a bit of lemon?) creating this wonderful little dessert. We loved it so much that we would clamour around my dad when he returned from home begging to know if perhaps the milk had spoiled again.

This has always been one of my favorite memories, but recently it came to mean more to me. As I got older, I learned that my mom doesn't really even enjoy cooking. She'll do it, but she doesn't feel confident in the kitchen and she'd rather not cook if she can avoid it. The fact that she would create this wonderful dish out of seeming defeat is that much more amazing to me.

I feel like this sums up my mom so wonderfully. She is one of the sweetest and most positive people I know. She doesn't just take life's lemons and make lemonade, she takes soured milk and makes cheese 'n' honey delight. And I'm not just saying that because she's my mom and I owe her my life. Anyone who knows her would back me up. She has always striven to put a bright and cheerful face on whatever she goes through and I admire and love her for that.

My mom and I last April

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I love you!

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