Kristen Schneider... "You are Loved"

Kristen Schneider ....Ever since I was a little girl my mom reminds me day after day "you are loved." She states it like a fact. Layered upon "I love you" the words "you are loved" instilled in me that love is not  dependent on someone else's expression or proclamation. My mom taught me love is not reliant on being owed or earned, love does not flee or waver. Love just is. Thank you mom for your unconditional love. Mom, I hope you will forever know you are loved.  

Belinda Lowry writes about her "Strong Beautiful Mother"

Belinda Lowry shares...My mother is a SURVIVOR!!! 
She survived 8 siblings, cracking her skull open and being blind for a year as a toddler!  She has survived a multitude of health issues – from scoliosis to cancer to 3 heart attacks and several other issues in between.  Her Doctor once told her she was the healthiest looking sick person he had ever come across! 

She has survived 57? years with an easy going (ie: slow moving) Okie boy, (granted he’s survived her as well, lol).  Survived raising 3 unique and challenging children.  Then had to be caregiver and survive the loss of her adult son.  

She survives and makes it look easy in the process.  She leads through example with an open, supportive and loving heart.   

She taught me self sufficiency, that hard work is paid back in pride of a job well done, that love is offered unconditionally, fully and freely, that there is good all around when you open yourself to it… 

Tracy Harbin shares from the Heart...

Tracy Harbin shares her favorite "Strong Beautiful Woman"...Auntie Merrilee

Strong, smart, spiritual, creative, loving, expressive, my great Aunt is so many things.  She reminds me that I am fierce and strong.  She encourages me to push forward and occasionally gives me a life lesson, sometimes subtlety and sometimes not.  We are kindred spirits.  She was my first hairdresser giving me a perm at the age of four…thirty years later, I can say that I have almost recovered from the event.  Rather than simply throwing money in a card for my high school graduation, she took me to the art museum and we kicked around St. Louis for the day.  She taught me never to hesitate, both literally and metaphorically.  We were crossing a large boulevard, and I wasn’t exactly a city girl then.  I had paused and then literally had to make a mad dash across the street. She simply said never hesitate when you do anything.  It is some of the best advice I have received to date.

We “bumped” into each other in Paris while I was backpacking across Europe.  We never coordinated dates of travel, but I ran into her at the Rodin museum.  We took a “tour au Canada” car trip many years later visiting art museums and churches and going to the theater in Toronto and Montreal.  One of the best nights I had while living in Rochester was when she and her friends stopped over for the night on their northeast driving trip. 

Now that I have moved to Florida, I can take a long weekend to southwest Florida and visit her.  I never know what adventure we will embark on next.  In the photo, we were enjoying a sunset in Naples. 

She has support me in all of my endeavors, including yoga.  She was a good sport and attended hot yoga with me one Wednesday night.  I might have fibbed just a bit about how hot the room gets, but she survived and doesn’t give me too much grief about the 100-plus temperature, although she mentions it every time I see her.

Even though she is in the beauty industry, she has taught me that beauty comes from the inside.  I am so grateful that she is in my life. #strongbeautifulwomen #strongbeautifulwoman 

Linda Louis and Susan Lei..."Strong Beautiful Women!"

All month long is dedicated to "Strong Beautiful Women" and I approached one of my dearest friends Susan Lei to share about her mother. First though I have to give a huge shout out to Susan! She has been "that student and friend" who pulls me aside after class and "gets real" with me... And it's always exactly when I need to hear it. God is working through her, and I feel so very blessed and thankful that she is in my life. The first time I met Susan's mom, I know I hugged her probably a little too long and hard... It was because I am so very thankful for both of them being "Strong Beautiful Women!"

<3 Susan shares...

Linda Louis is a strong, compassionate, beautiful soul.  Her greatest gifts are love, insight and understanding; with all of her life's ambitions having a theme:  helping others.  In her 20's and 30's she was a teacher and a mother of three;  In her 40's 50's and 60's, a individual and family therapist and in her 70's a realtor and skin care rep. Though her accomplishments are due to her perseverance and knowledge,  it is her passion for helping others and her love of the human spirit that is at the core of everything she does and anyone who has had the pleasure of working with

her has felt it.  To many she is a life-saver, a miracle worker, a friend, but I am clearly the lucky one for I get to call her Mom.

"Turn & Burn Betty!"... My mom <3

Happy Mother's Day 2013! This is my first Mother's Day without my mom being physically here with us. I (we) always thought that she would outlive us all. 

Betty Anne Stiles Howard was a "Turn and Burn" kinda woman. She was the original booty shorts, knee high boots and coloring hair fashionista! According to my father she was 98 pounds sopping wet and could eat any man under the table... sound familiar? She married my father at the age of 15, my father was 18. They ran off to Georgia and got married at the courthouse. Its no wonder my dad wasn't my grandmothers favorite person.  They would've been married for over 60 years now! WOW! They worked side by side as hairdressers together, Betty Anne and Billy were a staple in the lives of so many not just in Sanford, but from all over...

My mom has always been a hairdresser, and when she passed  (on her 76th birthday, June 2nd 2012) her beauty shop had already celebrated it's 50th year in business in downtown Sanford. My brother owns and operates the shop now, and it is still called Betty Anne's Hairstyling. She was the birth mother to 5 kids, 1 adopted  son and "Life Mother" to so many more!  

When I moved back home over 12 years ago, I thought it was to help take care of my dad, but God had better and bigger plans for me. I now know that it was to find my greatest "GURU" and Best Friend...my Mother. A confessed "Daddy's Girl", I never really saw the greatness of my mother as a child. I was not aware that she was the strong under current responsible for the family ship sailing smoothly. I can only remember my mother crying twice in front of me, but I know that she spent many a night down on her knees praying and shedding tears for each of her children and the life dramas we created.  My mother was always the one that said, "DO IT!" and she was right there to support me, even when my father wasn't...my mother knew the details! So much of who I am, where I am, is because of her belief in me. I can remember her saying, " Tymi, you will be the best at whatever you decide to do, because you always put your whole heart into it and you don't settle for less" She was my biggest fan, and because of her...I believed it.

The greatest gift my mother gave me was my faith in God. I can not remember a time when I have ever felt alone or abandoned, because I knew that I had a "Band of Angels" surrounding me. She is one of those angels now. My mother was, and I believe still is, the "Rock" of our family. Because of the foundations in Faith, Family and Service she instilled in each of us.  I pray that I may be a shining example of this, and a living testament to her life and love.

May we give thanks for those "Strong Beautiful Women" in our lives today and everyday. May we be present in those moments when we are with them here on earth, and may our lives honor those that have gone Ommmmm.

 Peace, love and light....

Tymi

Melissa Soricelli..."Mother and Warrior#1"

This opportunity to reflect on the influence of strong women in my life has inspired me to blog which was one of my goals for 2013, so thank you Tymi Howard for that inspiration!! 

Around thirty minutes ago I realized that my mom gave me a doctorate in bad-assery. She has always been a free spirit who makes no apologies about who she is and how she feels. That is what I admire most, her fearlessness. You always know where you stand with my Mom.  She is the person that will say what everyone else was thinking but were too worried what people would think if they actually said it. You know those comments that make you cringe but secretly you wish you'd had the balls to speak up.  Well my Mom has the balls! Ha! Never thought I would document that sentence.  She is a tiny, beautiful spit fire hippie (which is a compliment); who raised a racoon as her family pet and raised my brother and me on a beach. She and her four siblings lived on welfare as children of a single waitress. As a natural born care taker my Mom nurtured her handicapped brother all of his life. Even through his adult battle with cancer which he eventually lost when I was twelve. She never wavered through any of her struggles.  She was the Mom who rubbed my head and sang to me each night when I was small. The Mom who put my rebel ass in place for many years of teenage angst. I really put her through hell and man she let me have it right back, but she loved me straight through and out the other side.  She's the Grandmother who spoils my kids no matter what I say. She held our family together and basically saved my father's life when he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. We had a rough couple of years when I was trying to figure out life. Today  I'm so proud to say that she is one of my closest friends and honored mentors. 
My love of nature, freedom, peace and creativity comes from Mom. What passion, drive and fight mean to me is represented through by my Mom.  She's my Warrior # 1 !!

Kris Gault, "Mary Lou, I Love You!"

Be careful not to fall into the deep dimple on Mary Lou's left cheek, for you may miss this strong, beautiful woman.  She's quite a chic, intelligent babe of a Mom, with an infectious laugh that raises an octave at finish. I call her Mommy when I dial her iPhone daily, & affectionately ensure she's not driving in order to protect the safety of surrounding drivers. You are welcome Florida.

 A large round of applause is in order for delivering this 10 lb baby naturally, and giving up a 20 year career teaching in NYC to be there when I came home from school.  For being married since the Jets last one the Super Bowl in '69 & showing by action what a beautiful marriage can be, thank you Mommy. For embracing and supporting my meditation and asana practice, albeit quite quirky in your traditional world, let us all say Namaste!   

To confess, I'm sorry for a few things that come to mind, but not limited to:

1.  Playing April Fools' jokes on her for over 30 years.  

2. Screaming into my pillow, and giving her the finger that she was ruining my life in my teens.

3. Giving the peas from nightly home-cooked meals  to the dogs & eating all the crumbs off the Entenmanns' donuts before putting them back in the frig.  "Obviously, the donuts were born that way".

When asked: "mom what are you proud of?", she spoke for 10 minutes about her mother.  In essence, that's just it.  Mom gave me a parchment card with the scripted words "dance like no is looking", when I was a little girl. Who knew today, she led me to find music in everything, and to strive to be a little kinder to every person than seems necessary.  Mary Lou is my strong, beautiful women, friend and mother.  I love you mom. - Kristin Mary