This isn’t Mother’s Day. But I’ve been thinking about Mom. My mom. She’s still going. Still sharp.

Every Thursday is Hair Day so I help take her to her weekly appointment. My Dad did this too. Though truth be told, I have it much easier than he did. She used to have her appointment at 3:30. In the morning. Yes that’s right, in the morning.

I’m lucky, I take her at 11. In the morning. But that’s not the point.
My mom has to be the sweetest person I know. Let me give an example. I can’t tell you her age, I don’t think she’d like it so let’s just say she’s over 70. Anyway, I was leaving on vacation on a Friday and had told her I would be driving in to Chicago to stay overnight as my flight would leave early Saturday morning. I had told her I would call her when I got to the hotel.

So I called her. I had made it to the hotel. And no the traffic wasn’t that bad. After some more small talk, we hung up. A few minutes later she called me back. “John, I forgot to ask you a something.” Sure Mom, what is it. “How did Nico do in his football game last night? Did they win?” Yes they did win, and he played the whole game too. “Oh, that’s great! And one other thing, and I won’t keep you, …I’ll miss you and Miechelle!”

That’s what I mean, she’s that sweet.
She’s had some difficulty in her life health wise. I can’t even keep track of the number of times she’s had back surgery. But her outlook has never wavered to the negative. She just keeps looking at all the positives in her life!
She doesn’t complain although she probably could.

She’s been my counselor too, giving me advice on all sorts of matters. Sometimes I’d follow, other times I didn’t. If I would venture to tally up I’d probably find that she was usually right on target. She would tell me I could be anything I wanted to be..if I worked hard enough. She also told me I started a lot of things but rarely finished any of them. She was right on both counts.

She used to get on me about my penchant to cut my hair pretty short. She didn’t liked it, she’d make it pretty clear how she felt.
I still cut it short, and now she pretends to not notice it much at all.

She’s been a mother to all five of us, and the inlaws too. Always, the voice of reason, common sense.
She taught me about looking at the other side’s opinion too.

I once told her that I had thought that a particular cousin of mine was like my dad. Now this cousin seemed to always be getting into “scrapes” with the law etc. I told her I could see my Dad doing some of the same things when he was younger. Mom would have none of that. She told me straight out, “No, your father was never like your cousin. He (my cousin) never married a woman like your father did to keep him out out of trouble.” And there you have it.

I’d post a picture of her but I can’t, she told all of us that she will not be seen on the internet!

I can’t describe her any better than this…

She’s my mom!

Love you Mom

JT