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Mother’s Day

I was born on my mom's birthday.  Every year, she tells me that I was the best birthday present she ever received.  I always loved that, but the day my dad brought home my mom's  first brand new car (a circa 1975 Dodge Dart Swinger coupe with a V8, white vinyl seats and roof) I thought my 'best present ever' status was in question, but my mom has since reassured me that despite the amazing pickup of a 1970s era muscle car, I was still the best.

My dad had a great job with a big corporation that allowed my mom to stay at home and raise the kids, not an easy accomplishment with the recessions and fake oil crises of the decade.  My mom gave up her career to be there for her children as they grew up.  Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of my mom and I running errands together in the Soundview section of town.  My older brother and sister were in school, but I guess I was only in preschool half a day or something, but I distinctly remember sitting in the Dodge Dart with only a waist seat belt (no shoulder belts back then), the white vinyl under me and the hard metal dash staring me in the face.  There were no child car seats back then, and kids sat in the front seat  No worries, if the driver had to stop short for some reason, an adult arm would come out of nowhere and press your chest against the seat-back.  My mother and I would go from store to store running errands, and then we would wind up a Jimbos for lunch.  Lunch at Jimbos was my reward for being good while we shopped.  I don't remember why I liked Jimbos.  It was a tiny little luncheonette that served greasy food, but I guess it was the company that counted more than the food.  Don't go looking for Jimbos; it's not there anymore.  The last I knew it was called Rib Roost, and only very odd folks at odd hours still frequent the Roost.

My mom, along with my dad, was always there for us kids.  She taught us manners, right from wrong, and to always do the 'right thing', even when the 'right thing' was the most difficult thing.  My mom gave me unconditional love and protection.  She may not have approved of every decision that I made, but she always supported me.  There is no other person in the world that is a better judge of character.  My mom has a sixth sense when it comes to understanding people.  I have been told that I'm a sensitive person, and that I have an intuitive sense of people's character.  I get that, and all my good qualities, from my mom and dad.  The bad qualities I must have picked up from television and the 1986 Mets -- not the best roll models.  :-)

Well, I should get going.  As I write this I'm already way behind schedule.  I should have been showered and on the road by now.  I'm off to mom and dad's to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom and the family.  Even though I am a 'man of a certain age' and my mom is the mother of a 'man of a certain age', she is still my mom and I'm still her baby boy, the one who kept her from getting a slice of her own birthday cake all those years ago.

My mom has the biggest heart, the purest soul, and she is one of the wisest people that I have ever known.  I lover her with all my heart, and I want to wish her and all the moms out there the happiest of Mother's Days.