Moms

On Mother's Day, we honor those special women that labored to give us birth and devoted 18 years of their lives to making certain we graduated from high school.  I know that doesn't describe 100% of the moms in the US, but most of the moms I experienced growing up sacrificed much to raise their children.

My mom has already said her final good-byes, but I have vivid memories of her.  She taught me many life lessons, but the one that has made the biggest impact on my life was her acceptance of people for who they were.  She didn't care if they didn't wear the latest fashion or had a different skin color or worshiped in a way that we didn't.  Her belief in one humanity applied to both adults and children of all ages.

Her innate sense of fairness and love of children spilled over into the classroom, where she taught first grade for much of her 32-year career.  In fact, Dad always told people he couldn't seem to get out of the first grade, no matter how hard he tried.  Mom would often slip into teacher behavior at home, and we'd just roll our eyes as if to say, "Not this again!"  The impact she made on her students and their parents can be summed up in sharing a story one parent told at her memorial service.

He had triplets that spent all of their waking hours together, and, when their time to enter first grade arrived, the principal informed him that the three would be separated.  This upset not only Mr. Townsend, but also his boys.  When Mom heard about it, she marched to the principal's office and told him that she would take all three of the boys into her class.  She told him that they could separate when they reached the higher grades, but she believed it would impair their learning, if they didn't have each other's support in primary school.  Case closed!  The triplets stayed together, and their father never forgot Mom's intervention on his behalf.

In this time of economic hardship, many have forgotten the difference a teacher made in their lives.  Teachers do far more than educate students.  They care about their charges as individuals and devote time to oversee their development into productive citizens.  So, today, please join me in raising a glass of your beverage of choice to moms, and, when you do, express your gratitude to them and then toast a teacher who affected you in a positive way.  Here's to you, Mom.