Sitting here watching my mom work on the lesson for her sermon Sunday at a local home in Fairhope, I couldn’t help but be thankful for her.

Through thick and thin, she’s been there for me and I’m truly grateful.

Whenever I feel down or need some advice, she always lends an ear.

I have probably written about this before, but for several summers as a youngster, I had the privilege of going to Alpine Camp for Boys, a summer camp that’s located atop the Lookout Mountain in Mentone.

Every year, I’d get more and more excited to be going to camp because it was so much fun and it, along with my parents, also taught me the value of hard work.

Camp was pretty expensive then and it’s still expensive now.

My mom, with help from dad, helped pay for me and my brothers to go to camp there, and for that, I am again, very thankful.

The reason why I write about Alpine because this is the time when counselors are receiving their training for the upcoming summer.

If I am correct, college-age men are preparing for a summer they’ll most likely never forget. For some, this is nothing new as they’ve been a counselor before. For others, it’s a new experience.

Mom loves camp, and she’s not afraid to let people know that, too.

For some 15 years, she served as the director of children’s ministry at Fairhope United Methodist Church.

One of her favorite weeks out of the year was the kids’ camp at Blue Lake in Andalusia.

If you haven’t noticed, I love camp, too.

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my summer days at Alpine. Alpine is my Hogwarts.

So, I’m just sitting here watching my mom get ready to go give her lesson and smiling because I’m thankful she’s my mom.

I had a great Mother’s Day with my mom. I hope you did as well.