Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today, fifty-plus years ago, my mother was brought into this world.

And thank God because without her, I'd be a mess (and also non-existent).

My mom has lead a life very different from my own, so far at least. She was born in Texas, the youngest of three siblings, and grew up with her parents and her border collie named Trixie. She was saludatorian of her small town high school class (ever hear of Floresville, TX? Didn't think so) and one of one five or so girls in her class to attend college. She went to Texas A&M University and got what my father calls a "bullshit degree" in Sociology. She dated a guy named Dwayne who was a good dancer. She graduated magna cum laude after a hellish semester that included her mother dying of pancreatic cancer. She went to work in the hotel industry, met my dad in Arkansas at a New Year's Eve party, and married him two years later. She had me months before turning 30 and had my brother three years later.

Needless to say, those of you who know my mom in person know that she has come a long way from that blond, small-town, Texan tomboy. Now she's brunette, in the best shape of her life, married for 25 years, two-time champion of her fantasy baseball league, and one tough cookie.

Not only is my mom tough as shit, she's also a very loving mother. Sometimes her 'loving' nature bordered on being 'overprotective,' but mostly it was loving. She was supportive of everything I wanted to do, no matter how stupid it was. She sent me to a writer's day camp which is one of the highlights of my childhood. She helped Will and I with loads of school projects, drove us everywhere, put up with my teenage angst, and let me do my own thing in high school. And she is the epitome of the person who just takes one for the team. I mean, the woman did move to Minot, North Dakota with two very small children because the U.S. military basically told her she had to. There, she endured blizzards in May and a Christmas where my dad gave her seven pizza cutters and that was it (she kept accidentally throwing them away and my dad was trying to make a point). She loved me when I was going through a phase of not loving myself (aka junior high) and she was the one who discoverd Xavier University on a college website and told me to look into it. She, more than anyone else, encourages me to be myself and to follow my passions. She is an awesome mom and an awesome person.


So, Mom, thanks for being born, and thanks for giving birth to me. I appreciate it! And I appreciate you, too. Happy birthday!