Happy Birthday!

My wonderful mother turns 56 today! I know she won't mind me sharing her age because she looks and feels much younger than that. I wish I could be there to help her celebrate, but since I can't, I'll celebrate her a bit by sharing who she is and why she is so loved.

A few years ago she gave me a book titled "Mother's Memories, For My Daughter". Inside she included pictures, facts, and memories about her life and mine. I treasure it. I pulled it out this morning, and some of these thoughts come from there.

My mother was born in Blackfoot, Idaho at the Bingham Memorial Hospital to Max and Eddis Covington. This picture of my grandmother holding my mother was taken five days later when they returned home from the hospital. Can you believe my grandmother's tiny waist?


























She grew up catching frogs, climbing trees, and running around with the neighborhood kids. They played in an area that encompassed about 10 blocks and she's sure her mother didn't know where she was half of the time, but you didn't have to worry like you do now. She also developed a love of reading at a young age and liked Nancy Drew, Robert Louis Stephenson, and poetry. She wanted to be Annie Oakley.

























The house she remembers most from growing up was on Shilling Street and it was a huge house with 2 fireplaces and chandeliers in the front room and dining room. There were 4 bedrooms upstairs with a huge sun porch on the back of the house that later became her bedroom. It had a scary basement and about 2 acres to run on with pine trees and lilacs all around.

Her teenage years were a lot of fun. She had lots of good friends and they were always staying at each others houses. They liked to go to dances, movies, or just drive around. My mom wrote this about her first kiss: "Morgan Adams kissed me on my cheek at a dance party in the 7th grade." Too cute.

She babysat a lot from the time she was 10 or 11 and had her first potato combine job at 13. She got her first guitar at 14. She wrote that she loved going to visit her aunt at Flat Head Lake, and another favorite trip was to Salt Lake to see Led Zeplin.

They didn't have a lot of sports for girls back then, but she was really involved in the church sports programs and also some of her high school's drill/dance teams.

How she met my dad:

She writes "I first set eyes on your dad in Jr. High. He was so cute. Later in high school we had the same group of friends so I would watch the girls fall all over him. I didn't really think I had a chance so I just tried to be friendly. One night after I had broken up with a boy, he sat by me on my friend Sarah's basement stairs and told me not to feel bad because someday he would marry me." She told her friends and they all had a good laugh about that. My mother was 17 at the time.

One of my favorite stories from the whole book that she shared was this one:

"My grandmother Marie was taking care of us while my mom and dad went to San Francisco. I was about 7 or 8 years old and was playing out in the back yard when suddenly I got this feeling that I should go look for her! I went into the house and looked in the kitchen and front room and finally found her in the twins bedroom. The window had fallen on both of her hands and she couldn't get them free and did not want to yell and wake the boys from their naps! I helped her get out."

I wish I knew all the great stories from my mother's life, but one thing I do know is what a great person she is and what an amazing job she has done taking care of our family through the years. She is the type of person that makes it impossible for you to be in a bad mood when you are around her. She has a sensitive heart and has always looked after and befriended those that needed it the most. It always amazes me how she develops such good friendships wherever she goes and is always able to soften up people's hard edges.

If anyone deserves a special birthday it's her.

Happy Birthday Mom!