Hawaii was my mom’s favorite place on the planet.
When I was in college, I promised my mom I would buy her a condo in Hawaii by the time I was 30 years old.
At the time I had visions of being a young hot shot making a lot of money. But after I decided to go into politics, much to her taciturn chagrin, my mom told me to forget the Hawaiian condo because she feared that the only way I could afford such a luxury working in government is if I was doing things that would land me in federal prison.
So far I’ve kept the “don’t go to federal prison” promise.
My mom was my greatest teacher and biggest cheerleader.
I lost both yesterday afternoon when she passed away suddenly.
While I believe that in death my mom has achieved everlasting life, the transitional event is a nasty business. My mom was the antithesis of nasty. And so I prefer to reflect upon the life I knew of the lovely, refined woman who raised me rather than the one I cannot know.
We are tasked to live in the present. It usually takes a loved one’s death to flash forward a lifetime’s worth of memories.
As I think about my lifetime of memories of my mom and all the school lunches she made, all the basketball games she attended, and all of the whining she endured, a theme emerges: homemaker.
My mom was a homemaker in the literal sense of that word: making a home, which is to say a place of love, safety and work.
Home is where you do your homework, help your father in the garage, clean out the cat’s litter box, practice your jump shot in the driveway, play whiffle ball with friends in the backyard, sit down to dinner with your family and say your prayers before bed.
My mom and dad adopted me when I was three days old. I don’t know what my life would have been like without my mom. I just know it wouldn’t have been as good.
But I was just one of many strays my mom took in. She let me pay the family sensibility forward when I persuaded her to adopt a neighbor’s cat.
My mom was the lady in our neighborhood who put saucers of milk and bowls of food out for the full range of suburban wildlife. Our porch should have been sponsored by Mutual of Omaha.
My mom explained Shakespeare and introduced me to the fantastical worlds borne from the mind of CS Lewis. She bequeathed to me her love of reading.
My mom taught me to be responsible for myself and respectful of others. She insisted I be a half an hour early for everything so as to be considerate of other people’s time. As it pertains to punctuality, she missed her calling in the US Armed Forces.
All my mom wanted in return was for her two children to be happy and successful on their own terms, 20% off at Nordstrom and for the Cubs to win a World Series.
She raised two successful children. She loved shopping at Nordstrom. As for the Cubs, my mom also taught me that some things are not meant to be.
In lieu of flowers, please consider being a homemaker of your own by: taking in a stray from ADOPT Naperville http://www.adoptpetshelter.org/; providing children in need with new books to spark their love of learning athttp://www.firstbook.org/; and, while you’re doing some good for others, treat yourself to a bauble of some sort at Nordstrom. My mom deserved it. So do you.
As for my mom, I hope Heaven is nicer than Hawaii.
