My
mom used to read Dr. Seuss and Curious George books to me. Then she would be by my side as I read the
words aloud. Those are some of my
earliest and fondest memories of my mother.
Of course, she did so many other things back then that I either took for
granted or didn’t fully appreciate the effort that went into things. But I’m
thankful she was there to support me as I grew up, and as I raise my children,
I have come to appreciate what she did for me.
Raised
in 1970’s Brooklyn by my parents of modest means, my dad worked and as was
typical of the times, my mom stayed home to take care of my sister and me. By the time I turned 12 and entered junior high school, my mom went back to work.
Books
were always around me. My older sister could devour a book in a day – still
does – and my father read books on social justice, sports, and history. I didn’t see my mom read much except for the newspapers
and an occasional humor book. I didn’t
read many books outside of my school load, but I read a ton of magazines and
newspapers.
Today,
my mom is 78 and my dad’s been gone almost three years. But we celebrate Mother’s Day knowing that
the role of mom is a challenging position, and one that’s evolved over time but
still comes down to that of someone providing unconditional love. My mom was always there to support us.
In
high school my mom helped me type my papers.
I researched, wrote, and edited my work but I was no good at
typing. She typed fast and would stay up
until midnight to help me get it done. I
felt like a reporter on deadline and she was there helping to typeset the story
in time for the morning edition of the newspaper.
My
mom used to always support my various hobbies as a kid, from stamp and coin
collecting to saving TV Guide covers and other memorabilia of the day. But I still can’t forgive her and my dad for
a night time raid of my room when I was maybe nine, telling me my room needed
to be cleaned up. They tossed out
newspapers and hundreds of baseball cards.
In protest, I slammed down an expensive toy, Rock’em, Sock’em. I broke it. They were none too pleased.
One
of my mom’s best accomplishments was to give up smoking after polluting her
body for 50 years. She was told she had
lung cancer and dropped the habit could turkey.
They retested a few weeks later and realized a diagnostic mistake had been made. she was cancer-free. But upon hearing the good news, she
never smoked again.
Mom,
I love you, and wish you and all the ladies out there, a happy and healthy Mother’s
Day!
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