My Mother is an Angel

Today is my mother's birthday, so I'd like to write this morning's blog post about her. In Elder Holland's October 2008 General Conference talk, The Ministry of Angels, he taught that:

not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my [Elder Holland's] case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.

My mother is an angel, but just in case she thinks the term angelic couldn't apply to her, let me add a little bit of clarification. Angelic, a quality possessed by many women, especially mothers, does not mean perfect, which is a quality that, sadly, no mortal being possesses. Angelic, as defined in our copy of The World Book Dictionary, means "like an angel; pure, innocent, good, or lovely." No human being is perfectly pure or innocent, but as far as I can tell, my mother comes pretty close. She is also certainly a good person. No one who knows her could honestly deny that. And, though she may claim otherwise, she is lovely, and more importantly, loving. The defining characteristic of any heavenly being is love, and she exemplifies it better than anyone else I know.

My mother is an angel. In fact, she's the most angelic person I know. There are a number of people in my family circle that could be described as angelic, and many of them have their mother's influence to thank for that. If I am, in any way, angelic, I'm certain that I owe that trait to my mother, to whom I also owe my life, my spirituality, my hope, and all of my happiness. I would literally be nothing if she hadn't given birth to me, and I'd be less than nothing if she hadn't raised me. There is, I'll admit, some small measure of good in me, and most of it came from her.

So I'd like to wish a happy birthday to the angel I call my mother. I love you. Thank you for setting such a good, angelic example for me.