Another Kind of Mother

In about 20 minutes Mother's Day will be over. I have had a wonderful day filled with precious time with my youngest and reading lovely tributes that brought tears to my eyes from my oldest away at college, but this post is not about my role as a Mother. It is about someone else's. Over the past two years I have had the incredible fortune to be able to work pretty consistently as an actress. This is wonderful, but it comes at a price. When you work as an actor, you do not have the luxury of taking a vacation day to do something you need to or be at a family event, or, in my case, attend a concert or two of my daughter's or be at a first year college orientation. Luckily I have been blessed in my life with someone who was more than willing to step in as my substitute. I have to be honest, it's hard to give up that spot, even harder for me because I am a single mom. My kids are all I've got and I don't really have to share them with anyone, especially as they have gotten older. I also have their full support in my acting endeavors which makes it a little bit easier, but I do mean just a little bit. In the past 2 years, this person has stepped up to be the "mother" for my girls at college orientation, district choir, Fall and Holiday concerts, and she was even there for my youngest's first official date, all while I was on stage entertaining people. My girls love her dearly and she them, and there is not anything she would not do for them. That woman is my sister. SO today, on Mother's Day, I want to say Thank You for being the mother for my girls when I couldn't be. They appreciate it, and so do I, more than you will ever know!