Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all! We all had a mother, good, bad or indifferent. I have a lovely mother. Her name is Jan.
Let me tell you about my mother. She and my father married when she was 14 and he was 17 and no she wasn't pregnant. She didn't have me until she was 21.
At the age of 30, yes, 30 she had a massive stroke. Then 6 months later another stroke. They did an angiogram and found out that she had a rare benign tumor on her heart valve. She became the 3rd person in Waco, TX to have open heart surgery to remove the tumor.
But the stroke had done major damage. At that time they didn't have the clot busting drugs they do now. Or the physical therapy techniques. So everything mom lost, was lost for good.
Included was her eyesight in her left eye, the entire right side of her body was paralyzed and most importantly her speech was gone.
She is now 69. She has lived this way for 39 years. At first she could walk with a cane, then a walker. She has fallen so many times she has pretty much broken most of her bones. Her spine is a crumbling mass of tiny fractures.
So now she is in a wheelchair. When she stands to transfer into the bathroom or into her chair or bed, she is completely bent over, like she is reaching to pick up something.
But let me tell you something the stroke did not take. HER SMILE. She smiles all the time. Everyone that sees her can't help but smile. Strangers in the places we go just warm up to her.
She is pretty much confined to home, but Saturday is beauty shop day and we better not miss beauty shop day or all he-- breaks loose. Lord help us if it is raining or icy. The next week will be miserable if she misses beauty shop day. They treat her like she is a celebrity there. They make coffee just for her and even after she is done getting her hair done, they wait for her to finish her coffee.
Today my sister, her daughter and my sister's boyfriend joined us for lunch. This is a picture of my sister & her daughter & Mom & me.
Tell me the truth. Didn't her smile make you smile too?