My Mother

If you see me riding my riding lawnmower you might notice that I occasionally cry. I’m not sad about harming the grass but it is a time when I’m engaged in a mindless activity and can reflect on things. This morning I was reflecting on my mother… Naomi Geviene Norris Perkins. I guess growing up I didn’t really fully appreciate how special she was. We kind of got to grow up together. She had me 4 days before her 17th birthday.

A lot of people were always attracted to mom. She was always the most beautiful mom but the best part of her was her engaging personality. She was always full of life and fun. She made friends at the drop of a hat. . We lived all over the country (California, Utah, Alabama, Virginia and Texas) and she made life-long friends wherever we lived. Many people coming to Houston for treatment at MD Anderson stayed in the home of my parents. One summer two college students were selling dictionaries and they ended up living with us for a summer. We also had a foster child living with us for a while

She was always interested in things. She grew and cultivated African Violets, she designed and modeled dresses and she loved to cook. She was our Bible class teacher, our Den Mother and was active in the PTA. She would whip us when we were bad and laugh with us and hug us. There was a lot of love in our family. She taught us early on how to cut up a chicken. And she was hospitable. It seemed like every Sunday after church she and dad were bringing someone home for lunch. And every Thanksgiving and Christmas we had company.

She loved my Dad’s family. She called Dad’s parents “Ma and Pa”. All the nephews and nieces, because they couldn’t pronounce “Aunt Geviene” very well, call her. “Aunt Weenie”.

We never missed church… ever! In fact when mom was a new Christian and I was in the hospital to get my tonsils out… left the hospital so she could attend Wednesday night Bible study. Of course now she can’t believe she did that.

A lot of people wished my mom was their mom. And for a lot of them she was.

Mom is incredibly compassionate and forgiving and always wants to believe the best in people. Some people have treated her awfully but she forgives and forgets.

She has buried two husbands who loved and adored her… Bob Perkins and Darrel Roberts.

And now as she has aged and weathered all these years and can no longer live in her home. A home full of memories and treasures must be said goodbye to. I’ve hauled a lot of things to my home that some would consider junk but each item, like the old pogo stick, has a special memory for me. To say it’s traumatic would be an understatement. But the two most important things in Mom’s life are family and church. She’ll live just down the road from Greg and Kristi and many grandchildren and be able to go to church with them three times a week. And she’ll have family to take her to the doctors and care for her.

I have an incredible mom and today is her birthday. A large part of who I am is because of her and I know it very well. Happy birthday to an incredible Mom.