Mother’s Day

On this day, I’d like to honor someone I’ve known all of my life. Someone who coddled me when I was an infant, and spanked me when I was a brat. Someone who nurtured me when I was sick, and cheered me on the basketball court. That someone is my mother.

There are many things I can say about my mother, but the one thing I am most appreciative is the way she raised me. She taught me solid values. She taught me to think for myself. She hasn’t always agreed with my ideas, but she has always respected me.

While my mother was always concerned about my welfare, she was not a smothering woman. She gave me the freedom to fall out of trees, wreck my bike, and do other things that would lead to a law suit today. In other words, she let me get hurt, and in doing so, she taught me that life isn’t always easy. But no matter how bad things may seem, they will get better if we work at it. That has served me well in my business.

My mother still lives in the small city where she grew up. She is comfortable there. I “escaped” when I was 18—that city offered no opportunity or future for me. Ironically, it was my mother who essentially made me leave. She taught me that life offered more than our city offered, and she gave me the confidence to go out and find it.

My mother does not have internet access, and she may never read this. But on this Mother’s Day I send her my sincere thanks and love.

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