The year was 1976. It was April, the day before Easter. That was the day my mother lost a long and hard battle with cancer. What started as a dark-shaped, irregular sized mole ended up a few later as brain cancer. She was young, only 52 years old. The last two years were very hard on her. She suffered from chemotherapy, loss of function on the right side of her body... using her left hand to write grocery lists for me to get things for her. She suffered the wrath of a mean old man: my father. I remember the seizures, so very frightening to a young child. I remember her pumpkin pie and bologna sandwiches. She loved Gunsmoke and Bonanza and Mission Impossible. She let me win at Checkers. She was an expert bowler, a member of Mensa, and knew how to fly a plane. I remember more about my mother than most kids who lose their mother at a young age. I remember so much, and there are so many things I wish I could have said, things left undone, regrets.
I was lucky. My father remarried and my step-mother accepted me and never once tried to do anything but right by me. So for those of you who still have your mother, please don't let the time go by and end up with these same feelings of regret. Tell your mother HAPPY MOTHER's DAY today. Now. Turn off the damn computer and go call your mother.
Here's some funny stuff you can forward to your mom later, AFTER you call her:
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