I wrote this poem a few years ago for my mom for Mother’s Day and thought I’d share it again…

I call her JoYellen- cuz she likes to holler a lot,
She’ll even brag about the set of lungs that she has got.

She may not be mild mannered, or the even tempered kind,
But a harder working woman- I guarantee you’ll never find.

She’s got a passion for horses and it’s part of who she is.
Hauling horses around to rodeos with Amber and someone else’s kids.

She used to haul us kids around to rodeos too,
When it was a poor man’s sport and the one thing we could afford to do.

She taught us about GOD and we often went to church.
Can you believe that nearly every Sunday she’d wear a dress or skirt?!

Her blue hard hat and irrigation boots, Yep, I made fun of those with you.
But she once sold real-estate and dressed to the nines and I remember those days too.

I’ve seen her fighting mad at some people and the next day, be their friend.
Never holding a grudge and realizing, it really doesn’t matter in the end.

Johnny Horton, Conway Twitty and Elvis Presley too.
She loves their music, but not quite as much as she likes dancing to Footloose.

My brother, Paul, can make her laugh until she nearly cries.
I’ve seen her and Aunt Terry both laugh with tears welling in their eyes.

Hunting season is something else she can’t wait for each year.
Friends from Michigan, California and cousins have come just to hunt with her here.

We’ve all had her famous biscuits and gravy- she cooks it every winter.
Before or after a long hunt- we have it for breakfast and for dinner.

I’ve learned that when she says “goodles” of elk in a heard-
her definition is entirely different than my interpretation of that word.

For Christmas she asks for .22 bullets, not diamonds, clothes or even a bike.
So she can go shoot prairie dogs with Regis, Mel and Mike.

She may not be your typical, every day mom- you know, the June Clever kind.
But I love her dearly and I’m certainly glad, GOD chose to make her mine.

~carla reams