2003-05-11 - 10:05 p.m.

Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day. My sister and I drove down to where she lives to spend the day with my dear, sweet mother. We took her flowers. We took her gifts and a card.  We drove back up to the nearest metro area and took her to out to eat.  We had barbecue.  It was very good.

My visits with my mother and sister are very low key affairs.  We all just sit and talk to each other.  We hang out.  That's what we did when I was a kid. We all just hung out.  We were all together in the house, reading, watching tv, etc.  She never scheduled activities for us.  She never signed us up for soccer or little league or shit like that.  I always knew where she was.  I did not have that relationship with my father.  I knew where he was but it was not home with us.

I sat there in the restaurant across from my mother and sister. I looked over at her, this gray haired woman who carried me around in her womb for 9 months and then took care of me from the day I was born until now.  What a wonderful person she is.  She is everything I could ever want from a mom.  She loves me, she encourages me, we laugh and joke about stuff.  She is remarkable in many ways.

My mother grew up in a very strict home with lots of brothers and sisters.  She had to work for everything she had.  At one point in her life she gave up an accounting job she liked because she could make more money working at the mill.  She was one of two women who joined the Civil Air Patrol in the region where she lived.  No one had ever heard of such a thing before that. She took flying lessons before giving it up to work full time to help out her family.  That was in the early 1950's.

And she loves children, especially her own.  And she loves her grandchildren.  I don't think they really understand exactly what it is she has done for them through the years.  I am sure I will explain it to them one day.

I don't get to see my mother very often. Just once a month or so. She has been traveling a lot lately and I have been working a lot.  I talk to her about once a week.  I miss her.  She is 70 years old now and I have never known her to be happier.

I tell her I love her when I speak to her. She says she loves me too.  I hug her when I see her and I hug her when we part.  I know I will never be able to repay her for everything she had given me or has done for me.  That is not a problem for her. She just wants me to be happy, and successful.  The best thing I can do for her is to be a good man.

Jimmy
 

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