On Other-Mothers and Matriarchs

I celebrated my mother this morning, but I cannot forget about some other special women in my life.

I can't forget about my mother-in-law! 

Mother's Day 2012

I'm so glad I became a part of her family.  We've been friends since Day 1; she welcomed me with open arms. We have similar tastes, so she's a great shopping partner. I can't wait to finish school so we can hang out more. I'm the Ruth to her Naomi  (for my Bible readers). I love her immensely.  I can always count on her for a sound piece of advice or some encouragement. That's my boo!

Both of my biological grandmothers have passed on, but I've have the pleasure of gaining another grandma  - my hubby's granny who is his mother's mother.

Mother's Day 2012

I love her spunk and her spirit! She's well into her 80's, but she doesn't let that stop her from doing the things that she loves to do. My mother-in-law was just telling me how Grandma was out in the yard shoveling and adding cement pavers to her garden seating area :-/. Hubs often talks about how she's the "glue," how she's held the family down during some tough times, and how she's still going.  Nothing did my heart better than to watch her join Hubs and his mom to dance to "Three Little Birds" during the mother-son dance at the wedding. 

This is, by far, one of the most special pictures from our wedding.
Work, Grandma!
Told y'all she was a piece of work. LOL

I also want to remember the matriarchs of my family, Buncie Jones and Annie Baldwin. I don't have any pictures of Mrs. Buncie, but my dad has told me that seeing me in a pair of horn-rimmed glasses reminds me of his mother when she was young.  She passed when I was only 3, but the stories about her live on. As a wife, I especially appreciate how my mother loved her. My mom tells stories of how her mother-in-law, Ms. Buncie, always made her feel at home. She birthed 9 children, but I've heard stories of how she took in other children, so she was a mother to many.

This is my maternal grandmother, Annie Baldwin.  She went to be with the Lord in 2010:

Look at her styling! 

Mrs. Annie with her daughters and daughters-in-law

I can remember traveling to Virginia as a little girl and staying at her house during the summers.  She was an avid reader, and I would lose myself in her library. I can remember one summer when I inhaled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on her couch.  I had the pleasure of getting to know Mrs. Annie well, particularly when I moved to the DC area in 1999. She was an awesome woman. She was the rock of the family. She was poise and grace personified.

And she loved her hubby! She and my grandfather were married for almost 70 years. They had 10 children together; the 9th one was my mom.

Today I'm grateful for other-mothers like mother-in-laws and grandmothers. If I had more time, I could go on and on about the aunties who've been integral in my life and the girlfriends who I'm watching mother their children with grace and determination.

As I'm typing this, I just realized that both of my parents are without their mothers today. So to those whose moms have crossed over or were not there due to other circumstances, thank God for other mothers and grandmothers who take us in and love us like their own.

Until next time . . . I'm off to bump Tupac's "Dear Mama"! Have a great day!