My simple tribute to my mother is thinking back to when she met my father and the younger years that followed.
Ok, so imagine this dude pulls up in a nice pimpin' main street cruiser revvin' it up for the ladies gazing on. Maybe it was the uniform...maybe it was just the smokin' hot car.
Then this little cute thing (below) agrees to go for a ride and...well...the rest is history.
Ok,so it wasn't exactly like that but the whole story needed a little more spice to it anyway.
So this swingin' item you see the right is Mom and Dad. Ya, pops married up and like a good son he passed that little tid-bit of advice onto me...which of course I listened very well.
So along comes this little duo and well...life...as it does...got a little boring. So they did what any normal couple would do and that was read the Bible of course. It says, "to multiply and replenish the earth" and that if they did they would have "joy beyond measure." I'm paraphrasing of course.
Fine, with Dad working to pay some bills, Mom got a little bored (no mailman involved at any time.) Mom really wanted some joy in her life so she and Dad...well ya know...and whalah! My older sister came along.Ya she's cool but she was a bit boring and just didn't quite do it for Mom and Dad. So they really gave it a go and put some effort into this time and then all their happiest dreams became a reality.
Yes, I was born December 24, 1973!
Keep in mind that the two kids that followed me were merely an exercise in futility as Mom and Dad soon realized you could not have more joy by having more children after me. But such as life they were young, naive and you learn as you go, huh!
If you look closely you can see the pain in Jenn's face as she realizes that the real thing had arrived. And of course the gleaming smile on Mom's face as she holds me in front of Jenn and just about center to the camera. I was trying to get situated comfortably for the picture...but Jenn was likely poking me from behind.Life with Mom was great! She fed me whenever I cried. She swished those ancient, poopy cloth diapers around in the toilet until they were clean. She burped me when I had gas. And most of all she tolerated my sister's envy.
My fondest memories are of Mom when she hooked me up with this totally sweet ride (right.) Imagine the pride and excitement on my Mom's face as the neighborhood kids looked on and salivated. Ya, Mom was the talk of the sandbox, I tell ya.
That wasn't everything Mom did for me of course because as you can see below she also made me the talk of the town with this deluxe model bowling set. Imagine the youngsters in town looking on as I mastered the difficulties rolling a plastic ball across the finest of shag carpet.
I could hardly contain myself as you can see in picture...I had the hunger of Michael Jordan as illustrated by the tongue action.Grandma Moore (in the background) seems a seemed a bit unimpressed with the whole gig but then again maybe she never really enjoyed the luxuries and comforts that I was able to...as every generation wants something better for the next. Deep down inside I think she too was envious.
It's looking back on times like these that you realize how great Moms really are.
Now my mom was also the kind of mother that put extra thought into making sure that we learned the simple pleasures of life. She taught us good manners...to say "please, thank you, and will you kindly stop picking your nose."To my right you will even see that she went as far as to make sure we all were well groomed and presentable...obviously something that has carried over to today. There's rarely a moment when I leave the house now without giving thought to whether I am presentable or simply reminded of how important a good hair day can leave a lasting impression on others in the business world.
At a young age my mother was insistent on the importance of showing kindness to all of God's creatures. Even when they were not demonstrating kindness to me I had a mother that insisted on returning unconditional love to them.Demonstrated to my left is one of the tender mercies I was seen giving to God's dearest creatures. Although this was years before I realized the awesome and completely hysterical things a cat would do when you scotch tape their whiskers to their face--scotch tape their tail to their hind legs and simply place scotch tape to the bottom of all four paws. Now that was a lot of love to give to one lucky cat even though mom did not teach me that.
Now my last simple and random tribute to my mother for this year's Mothers Day is to pay tribute to the mother that taught my mother all the great things of life.Yes, Grandma Wood (second from the left in the pic & my mother is in the middle modeling the lipstick pink dress) is the salt of the earth. I have always appreciated her kindness, her generosity, her constant service and kind words. She was always full of those "isms" that stuck with you and benefited you the rest of your life. Like, "eat the bread crusts cause it makes your hair curly"--"if you don't close your mouth every once in a while you'll end up eating a fly"--and most certainly we can't forget "pull your britches up cause someone will think your there to work on their toilet." After all, Grandma was the reigning influence on my mother and a special "thank you" to you, Grandma.
Mom, may you enjoy this extra special celebration of motherhood. "Thank you" for all that you have ever done, sacrificed, taught and shared with me over the years. You are more wonderful now than ever before especially as we who are living the parenting dream now wonder how our parents, especially mothers, ever made it through.
Happy Mothers Day! "I love you and forever will...thank you!"
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