30 Days of Gratitude: 14. Mom

With the world in its current state there is a dearth of topics on which everyone can agree. Politics, religion, technology, race, education, etc. are touchy subjects best left to the pundits and pontificators. Today I'd like to discuss a subject I think will be met with not only a lack of dissent, but a general shout of acclamation and agreement.

Moms are awesome.

I've had several moms influence my life over the years. Friends' moms, neighborhood moms, several ladies in Mexico who acted as moms while I was on my mission... There are moms everywhere. Heck, I'm even married to one and I gotta say, moms really are awesome. One woman, though, has been my mom longer and more thoroughly than anyone else in my life, and her name is Linda Rich.

She's amazing, and I'm so grateful for her. She's been a constant source of love, praise, and support throughout my life, and (unfortunately for Danielle) I got a lot of my sense of humor from her. Not only is she a great mom, but she's done amazing things. In addition to raising three great children and then one last amazing child, she has also been a dance teacher, a flight attendant, a pilot, a violin teacher (to us kids, anyway), and a heck of a tambourine player. She is also one of the founding members of the legendary Rich Family Band. (Wish I could find a copy of our album cover to post. Hit me up if you've got one, people. Instead, here's one of Mom in a plane. No idea what the story is here.)

My mom is also a spiritual giant. She's always jumped into every Church calling and assignment with both feet and effusively discussed the blessings she's received. I've never had reason to doubt whether or not she had a testimony of the Gospel because she was always happy to share it with her words and show it with her actions.

In addition to all of that, I owe my personal testimony to her. I once heard a story about a man who was asked how he knew The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true. He responded "I know because my mother told me, and she's never lied to me." That's all well and good, but my mother gave me something much, much better. She taught me how to find out for myself.

When I was a small child just becoming aware of the world outside of Provo I began to ask her questions.

"Mom, there are lots of people in the world, right?"

"Yes, there are."

"And, Mom, there are lots of churches in the world, right?"

"Lots of churches."

"And everyone thinks their church is the right church, right?"

"They probably do."

"So how do we know for sure our church is the right one?"

At this she stopped what she was doing and turned her full attention to me. I will never ever forget what she told me. "Jesse, you have to ask Heavenly Father for yourself. That's the only way to know for sure."

So I did. And I do.

I owe my life to her. She birthed me, she raised me, she cared for me, and she sent me out into the world. Perhaps most importantly she prepared me to meet my wife. I love Danielle with all my heart, and from very early on in our relationship I began to see that she would one day make a fantastic mother. I could never have known that if I hadn't already known a fantastic mother myself.

Mom, I mean it when I say, You're the greatest. I love you.