Today is my mother’s birthday.

Now, to all of you who may be reading this sentence, that probably doesn’t mean a thing.

But to me, those five words mean everything.

Most of us know the importance of having a mom.

They are the ones who brought us into this world.

They are usually the ones who fed us whenever we cried, changed us because we could not do the job ourselves and rocked us to sleep, singing quiet whispers in our ear.

They are the reason we are here, the reason we made it through all of those nights when we were sick, the times we had colic or chickenpox, the measles or fevers.

Our mom is the one who got us ready for our first day of kindergarten, took our picture on the first day of school, made snacks on our birthday for everyone in our class, including the teachers, and shared bedtime stories.

Somehow, someway, they purchased whatever it was that was at the top of our list to Santa, and then spent the entire night building it, putting it together so it would be ready for us to use when we woke up Christmas morning.

Our mom is the one who sat and cried at our wedding, because they were letting go of their little girl or little boy, letting them go to be with somebody new, someone else who would care for us now, or at least, they were supposed to.

But no one ever takes care of us like our mother did.

Our mom is our very first love.

Our very first.

And no matter how many others we may have in our lifetime, there is no one who can replace what we have (or had) with her.

It is a love unlike any other.

She is consistently there for us, no matter what we do.

I am thinking we could probably burn down the house, wreck the family car, kill someone in a moment of anger … and our mother would still love us with her entire heart.

It is a bond unlike any other, and it surpasses all else.

My mom has been my one constant my entire life.

When I was 6 and my parents divorced, she was the one who was always there, every day and every night.

Sure, she worked 12-hour shifts — sometimes doubles.

But you get my point.

She did that in order to support us and to provide for us, so that we could have as nice a home as we could afford, so that we had a car to use for transportation and so that I could have Jordache jeans and a Holly Hobby dress that I wore everywhere.

My mom always had the cool car in the neighborhood. For that I am grateful.

She understood the importance of having a Firebird when Firebirds were popular.

She was the mom who played the records on our stereo extremely loud, another awesome attribute she possesses.

My mother is a very quiet person and keeps to herself.

She never swears, never smoked, never drank or ever did drugs.

She always went to church, has read the Bible and loves Jesus but doesn’t push religion down anyone’s throat. She just gives subtle hints that He is with us and mentions from time to time we need to turn to Him when things get bad.

She always accepted my boyfriends — no matter how awful they would turn out to be.

She doesn’t judge anyone.

My mom is simply an all-around good person.

There is only one time in my life that I can recall my mom losing control.

We were riding in a car and a trucker somehow cut us off or did something to endanger our lives. If she hadn’t reacted, we probably would have been killed or seriously injured at the least.

Needless to say, she followed that truck driver and told him off for what he had done.

She has always had our back, and for that, again, I am grateful.

I am sure my mother cringes whenever I talk about her in the newspaper, and wonders what I am going to say so that the people who do read this section of the paper every week will know a little bit more about her life.

As I said, she is quiet and reserved. She keeps to herself and doesn’t really like going out in public very often.

Which is sad, because she is a wonderful person and more people should have the opportunity to see her heart.

She always is doing for others. She is still going to the store and shopping for people she isn’t even related to and taking people to appointments because they have no transportation themselves.

She is giving animals a home that are in need.

I, too, am sort of an introvert. I don’t like going places and having people see me.

Of course, you might never know that considering my profession is a newspaper reporter, a job that requires you to go out and speak to people in order to get that story.

I am not one for interacting with others.

I get my reservedness from her, and that’s OK. Not all people should be the same. If they were, it would make for a very dull world.

But I want to wish my mother a very happy birthday today.

I want to tell her that she is very much loved by her family, although we may not show it all the time and sometimes get mad at each other.

She is still my rock, my one constant, the one my children and I can always turn to if we need anything. (Except money. None of us have that.)

And that’s OK.

Because we have love, and that is enough.

I wish for her many more birthdays to come, because I don’t know what I would do without her.

As I said before, she is the one — the only one — who has been by my side since the instant I was born, and she has never failed to leave there for the last 53 years.

When my children were born, she was there, too. Raising them right alongside me, for she was all I had — all three times. And, in my personal opinion, they turned out to be wonderful, kind-hearted men who I could not be more proud of. Each and every one.

I attribute that to her.

I am beyond thankful for every single time I called or texted and she came.

Whether it was 3 a.m. and in her pajamas, she would quickly arrived at my front door within moments. And there were many of those moments.

Raising three boys is definitely not a cakewalk, but we made it through. Somehow, because of my mother and by the grace of God. If it wasn’t for them, I am not sure we would have.

Today, there are moments when my mother tells me she can’t remember anything anymore.

I believe she is being a little dramatic, because she does remember a lot of things, things I have long forgotten.

So if anyone is being forgetful, it is me.

We all forget things from time to time. How many of us walk into a room and have no idea why we went in there in the first place?

How many times have you gone to the store for one specific item and left there with everything but?

Being forgetful is a part of being human. She needn’t worry so much because she forgets she already told me the same thing last week, but it worries me because it worries her.

Her sadness is my sadness.

Her joy, mine.

As of late, my mom has been mentioning from time to time that when the time comes, she wants to be taken to a nursing home to live. She doesn’t want to be a burden to any of her children or grandchildren.

Imagine. Not wanting us to take care of the very person who always took care of us.

What kind of human would we be if we denied the chance to take care of a parent when that time comes?

I would gladly take care of my mom.

Even though it is hard to take care of myself most days, I would certainly do my very best.

She is the one who fed me, clothed me, rocked me to sleep, sang to me to calm me down and taught me the meaning of love.

Why wouldn’t I do the same for her?

I only wish she understood that.

So you see, when I say today is my mother’s birthday, it probably doesn’t mean very much to you.

But to me, it is everything.

If it weren’t for her, I would not be here.

More importantly, much more importantly, my children would not be here, and my grandson wouldn’t be here — and they are my everything.

I could not envision my life without any of them, and that is because of her.

So yes, today is a very special day in my little part of the world.

It is the day my grandparents had a baby girl.

I won’t say how many years ago, but just know that it is a day that I will always remember, a day that I will always be grateful for, a day in which I owe my very life.

Happy birthday, Mom.

I pray there will be many more birthdays to come.

Love you.

(Stenger is the community editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times newspapers. She can be contacted at jstenger@heraldstaronline.com.)