With Mother’s Day this weekend, I wanted to write a nice column about my mom.  It’s hard to say how you feel about your mother.  The way you look at your mom changes as you go through different stages of your life. Age puts a different perspective on things. I have come to realize that as I get older, I appreciate my mother more each and every day.

Judy Owens Thomas is a local girl.

She's the mother of four biological children and one she and my dad took in when I was 17.

She is also the proud and sometimes exasperated grandmother of six boys and one girl.  She is the daughter of a very strong-natured woman and the wife of a man I believe would literally die for her if he had to do so.

As I observe my mom now, I have come to realize that she understands the most important job in the world is being a good mother.

Many go to school for years to work at jobs that they never feel satisfaction over.

But for my mom, being mom, is her satisfaction.

Some may scoff if I say that her children are her biggest success and accomplishment.

But we are.

But sometimes we forget that we are successful because of the love and support that she gave us growing up and that she still gives us as we all live in our thirtysomething worlds.

When I lived in Georgia, one of the things that I really missed about my mom was her smile and laugh.

Sometimes she gets so tickled that she cries.

I've made her cry a few times without the laughter.

Each time I felt a little less human.   However, no matter what, the great thing about her is that smile always returns.

That is one thing I've never told her.

They are words that are never spoken, much like feelings that I never expressed to her.

Sometimes I find it easier to write things like that down than to try to verbalize. I don’t tell my mother enough how very special she is to me.  As I get older, and so does she, I feel that even more.  We age together now as friends. I wish I had paid more attention to her earlier in my life and spent more time with her.  Time moves too quickly as you get older.

This Mother’s Day, tell your mom that you love her. Learn from her.

One of the greatest things I've learned from my mom is no matter how hard life drives you to your knees, you can get up again.

The sun will rise the next day and instead of taking life quite so seriously, smile about it. 

So this Sunday, I hope to spend some time with my mom and family as we celebrate her day.

But you know, I don't really need the day to use to tell her how special she is to me and the rest of my family.

She knows that in this wild, crazy world that each night we all say a prayer for her and we say a prayer thanking God for her.  

I would be nothing without my momma. I love you, Mooooother!  Happy Mother’s Day. 

Jay Thomas is the managing editor of The Greenville Advocate and can reached at 383-9302, ext. 136, via email at jay.thomas@ greenvilleadvocate.com or mail at P.O. Box 507, Greenville, 36037.