I Love My Mom*

I know that half the bloggers on the planet may do the same thing - but I'm going to write about my Mom for Mother's Day. And if you think that's hackneyed, get a load of this: I'm going to do a post about my Dad on Father's Day and my wife on her birthday/our anniversary (which are -conveniently - the same day). I may even write about my kids on their birthdays! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!!

OK - I'm...feeling better since I got that off my chest.


My mom was the baby of her family and the only girl. To hear her surviving older brother, my Uncle Rodger, tell it - she got away with plenty as a kid. I can imagine that my grandparents might have spoiled their baby girl a bit. But I don't think she's been spoiled much since leaving her parent's home over 46 years ago. She doesn't act like a spoiled little girl - so whatever she got away with earlier in life hasn't seemed to trinkle down** to the present day.


[My mom was about 5 years old when this picture was taken with her father's mother, Grandma Knight.]



My mom was an ath-a-lete in high school. That stuff must skip a generation - since I grew up with the eye-t0-hand coordination of a drunken giraffe.*** [There's really no need to point out that my younger brother had plenty of athletic talent, thank-you-very-much!] Mom lettered in four different sports (basketball, floor hockey, swimming and tennis) as the photo at right attests. One of my Mom's uncles was a news photographer and got a number of great shots - some of which made it into the paper. And to think - my entry into the world was only a few short years away.



[The photo at left shows my Mom, Uncle Rodger, my Grandma, and my Aunt Diane (the wife of Mom's oldest brother, Bill, who died in a car accident before I was born).]


Other than my late-blooming athleticism (I'm still waiting for it), I share several different traits with my Mom.


Including:
- We're both quite loud (although I'm louder than she is)
- We both have a strong faith in God and are active members in our churches
- We like to golf
- Neither of us likes to talk on the phone that much
(I have a higher tolerance than Mom)

Because Mom is working tomorrow (I thought she had retired!), I took her out to dinner tonight for Mother's Day. We had a fine time chatting - and didn't get on each other's nerves even once! She wants all of her children to get together sometime this fall - and I said I would do whatever she wanted. We talked about her work for the Census Bureau and a Pickleball tournament**** she will compete in soon. She's still an aggressive competitor.

(Here's part of a conversation from tonight between me and my Mom.)

Styro: "So if you're playing in two-man teams, do you play one person up and one person back, like in tennis?"

Mom: "No. We mostly play up close to the net."

Styro: "And do you lob shots much to get behind the other team."

Mom: "No, I'm not very good at lobbing."
I know my Mom pretty well. I only had to think for a couple seconds.

Styro: "So, you mostly try to hit shots hard right at people so they can't return them."
It wasn't a question.

Mom: "Yep. In your face, baby!"

That's my Mom alright - and I love her.


Take care.



* Thanks to Suzzy Roche for the title.
** That's the way I both wrote and recorded it - so that's the way it stays. "Trickling" is for those without imagination.
*** The fact that this link exists is nearly conclusive proof that you can find anything on the Internet.
**** I'll bet you didn't even realize that there was a USA Pickleball Association!