Happy 55th Marla Irene Green!

Mom, Matt and me Summer 2002

Mom with the dogs- they adored her and they were basically like her children

Today would by my mom's 55th birthday. She was born November 23rd 1953 to Carl and Marjorie Green in Oxnard, California. I feel lucky to have had her as my mom. She would always tell me that before babies were born, they pick thier parents when they are in heaven. She said that my brother and I picked her and my dad. It's been almost 5 years since she passed and I still think about her everyday. I still miss talking to her on the phone. See- I lived in California for the last 4 years of her life. I talked to her almost everyday. She was my biggest fan. She wasn't perfect but she loved my brother and I more than we deserved. She was hilarious, accepting, forgiving, generous, a great cook and the giver of the best mom hugs. I don't know what I miss the most. Whenever I was sick, whenever anything awesome happened to me, whenever anything bad happened to me- she was the only person I wanted to talk to. Losing her was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through but it has made me who I am today and I like myself better today.

Birthdays were always special. No matter the number- she would always make you feel like you were the most special person on the planet. She would tell me the same story every year- she would usually start 3 weeks before the birthday and say, "23 years ago today I was...". She finished by saying what she was doing on the day before I was born. She did the SAME to my brother. We would laugh and say, "Mom, I have heard this story every year".

Often times, I felt like the parent. She told me before, that in a past life I was the mother and she was the daughter. I would say, "That explains a lot". When I would tell my friends that I was going back to AZ to visit my mom or that my mom was coming to visit me in Cali- my friends would wait for me to complain- I never did. I actually liked spending time with her. We were friends and enjoyed each other. That seemed to be a foreign thought to some of my friends because they didn't like their mothers. I will always miss her and be so thankful for the time on earth we had. I do wish she was still here to meet my husband and family- she would LOVE James. I am so grateful for the 25 years we had together. In that time we experienced a lifetime of love and memories that I will always cherish.