i've always wanted to write something here about how special my mom is to me, so i figure now is a good time because today is her 60th birthday.
i'm not really sure where to start, so i'll just go at this chronologically. i think i've mentioned here before that my parents split up in 1981, when i was six or seven. my mom would have been the same age that i am now (thirty three).
my mom was a typical 70s & 80s housewife, in that she had little work experience at the time, outside of raising three children. i can't imagine the terror she must have felt after the divorce, knowing that apart from a small amount of child support, she was fully responsible for making sure we got fed, clothed, etc.
i think her first job at that time was as a telemarketer. if i remember correctly, she worked a job where she got off work around 8 pm or something. knowing how devoted she was to my sisters and me, it makes me really sad to think about that situation and how she must have felt being away from us so much. but as those jobs tend to go, it didn't last long and she eventually got a job with a more typical 9 to 5 schedule.
we certainly didn't grow up with a lot of luxuries, but my mom did everything she could to ensure that we never noticed how tight the times were. i don't want to overstate this too much because it's not like i was oliver twist or anything; my dad did make a pretty good living, but at the same time, when an appliance broke in our house, it was catastrophic.
no matter how things were going or how tired she was from those awful minimum wage jobs she worked, she always had time to read to us or shuttle us around or basically just be run ragged by her bratty kids. and we were bratty. she swears that we weren't too bad, but i still feel guilt over having done things that typical kids do, like being embarrassed by her, talking back, etc. i remember her actually trying to play catch with us or other sporting things like that. things of that nature were hard for her, because other than my wife, my mom probably has the worst hand-eye coordination of anyone i've ever seen. but she still did it, and got black and blue for her trouble. for all the sacrifices that i know she made for her children, there are probably ten times that many that i'll never know about.
i think we've all turned out mostly ok and it is in no small part to the job she did raising us. she is without a doubt the most sensitive and selfless person i know. she didn't do very well in school, as she'll openly admit, but she has an intuition about people and an empathy that i admire. she also retains an incredible amount of entertainment trivia, something which constantly reminds me that i am her son.
and i'm proud to be her son. and thankful. and happy when i'm able to do things to help her out because she did so, so much to help me when i was a little boy and a jerk teenager.
i love you mom. happy birthday.
Thank you Mark. I am very proud of you and your sisters. You three were and are my life. My grandkids are my other life. So Thank You again and I love you a lot,
Mom
Posted by: mom | March 12, 2008 at 01:20 PM
just when i am convinced you are in deed the devil, you do something like this. this was a great post that made me get quite teary.
Posted by: john w. bobbit | March 13, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Aww, this is so sweet. I am sure it almost makes up for how tough it must have been to raise you!
Posted by: hannah | March 13, 2008 at 10:44 AM
maybe almost made up for it, but not quite. i was no prize child, for sure.
Posted by: mark | March 13, 2008 at 10:49 AM