You Don't Have A Mom Like This One!

Unless you’re one of my brothers or one of my sisters, you don’t have a mom like I do.

Just to get you in the right frame of mind, let me tell you that, at the age of 80, she wrote and performed a rap number at my daughter’s rehearsal dinner. That ought to tell you something right there!

That wasn’t her only rap number; she’s done others since then.

Mom will be 84 in August. She’s on the church council, president of her community club, a Sunday School teacher and I'm scared to find out, I mean, I don’t know what all else.

Mom was a school teacher before she went into sales and sales management. When she retired (which is something we thought she’d never do) she had about one-fourth of the United States under her.

She was a workaholic. She was always working AND she was always with us when she needed to be. I haven’t figured out how in the world she did that! After all, there were five of us “young‘uns” over a period of about 20 years.

On top of that, she was a “political wife” for years, attending banquets, programs, campaign rallies and such with Dad. Oh, yes, and a “political mother” when I ran for office.

She’s been a much-sought-after motivational and inspirational speaker all across the United States and in other places like Ireland and the Fiji Islands and our kitchen table.

In the late 1980s she was named “South Carolina Mother of the Year.”

So, to say “Happy Mother’s Day” to Mom, I’m sharing a few of my favorite past posts about her.


That’s Mom on the right. Members of our family dressed up for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A.


NAME CHANGE AND MOMMA

This blog has a new name. If you’ve been here before, perhaps you noticed the change.
I didn’t really like the previous name but hadn’t bothered to do anything about it until now.
I changed it because my momma suggested it, saying she didn’t like the other name.
Yes, because my momma said so.
I know. I’m 58 years old, but my momma still said so.
Once a momma, always a momma.
Which reminds me of one of my favorite stories about Mom.
After a lot of deliberation, I decided to run for lieutenant governor in 1990. So, I called my parents to tell them their daughter was embarking on this hectic, tremendous campaign.
Mom answered the phone. I said, “Mom, I’ve made the big decision. I’m running for lieutenant governor.”
Guess what she said?
It wasn’t that she’d be pulling for me, or that she disagreed with the decision, or anything like that.
Mom replied, “Well, for goodness sakes, get your hair out of your face.”
Like I said, once a momma, always a momma!




OH, MOM, YOU DIDN'T!

Mom always worked outside the home. Quite frankly, if she hadn’t needed to and wanted to, she probably would have – just as a means of escape from her five children. But I digress.
She traveled a good bit with her job, including numerous flights from Columbia (SC) to Chicago. On one particular occasion, she had important meetings scheduled in Chicago and couldn’t quite decide what to wear.
Finally settling on a white outfit with a touch of brown, she then had to decide about the shoes. Her options were white sling pumps or her two-tone brown pumps. She put on one of each to see which looked and felt better.
The next time she thought about the shoes was when she was in the gate area of the airport, getting ready to board the plane. She thought about it because people standing around her were looking at her feet and snickering. She looked down and gasped!
In the Atlanta airport, a man walking past in the opposite direction, smiled and said, "I'll bet you've got another pair just like that at home, don't you?” Oh, yes, she most definitely had a matching pair at home!

It’s not unheard of that someone will have on mismatched but at least similar shoes. These were most certainly NOT similar.
The white sling, in addition to the open back, had an open toe with a bow on top. It was a very dressy shoe with a high, slender heel. The brown shoe wasn’t dressy and had a lower and thicker heel.
Mom wore those shoes all day in the meeting, then went straight from the meeting out to dinner with the group. She said lots of pictures were taken, one of which appeared in the next issue of the company newsletter with the following caption: “Whose Feet Are These?”
She never did say which shoe looked and felt better.



NO, NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO!

There are definitive answers, and then there are very definitive answers. I’m not certain Mom knows the difference.
Mom and Dad were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997. Being quite family-oriented, Mom thought a cruise with the whole family would be a tremendous way to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
So, she mentioned this to Dad.
Rather emphatically, Dad said, “I’m not going on any dang cruise! Not today, not tomorrow, not any time.”
Well, Mom said that sounded like a “maybe” to her!
Doggone if she wasn’t right. We all went on that cruise.
Leave it to Mom to find a “maybe” or even a “yes” in a strong “no.”

Of course, she did a bit of verbal finagling. She told him that was okay if there was no cruise, but then the five children would probably plan a reception or drop-in and invite lots of people; they would have to dress up and then they would have to stand in line and greet people whose names they couldn’t remember, but if that’s how he preferred to celebrate their anniversary, well, that was okay.
If there was one thing Dad wanted less than a cruise, it was a dress-up reception with a receiving line and such.
Mom knew how to get that cruise, and I’m so glad. We had a blast!





Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! You’re one of a kind – and that’s good!







If you want to read more about Mom – like about her visit to a Playboy Club – scroll all the way down on the right side of the page and find the tag/label that says “Mom.” Believe me, there are many more stories!