Moms

Yes CJ, its story time with Gerry again.

Everybody loves their Mom. Everybody thinks their Mom is the best Mom in the world. I know my Mom was the best.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying my Mom is any better than other Moms in the world. She was the best Mom for me when I was growing up, as well as being the best Mom for me ever since.

Most families have Moms. When the right Mom brings the right child into the world, the world is made a better place. My wife Nita’s Mom is an amazing Mom, and Nita was and still is the right child. The world is most definitely a better place.

My Mom is the right Mom, but there have been times when my being the right child was doubtful. I’ve done some things in my life that did not make my Mom too proud of me. I joke with friends that in High School I was voted most likely to succeed…..In Jail!

My Mom has an interesting story about having to go to the Cote-St-Luc Police department to pick up one of her offspring, 13 at the time. It seems that a gang of kids went to Rita’s house one Tuesday afternoon, and her Dad came home to find all these teenagers drinking beer in his house. He called the cops, and the rest you can guess. Not that this had anything to do with me.

When I first moved to Ottawa, I called my Mom one Sunday, and we were chatting about a number of things. I mentioned to her that I had just finished stripping all the paint off my dresser. The dresser was something my parents had picked up, and had been used by me, or me and my brother, for all my life, so when I left home, I was allowed to bring it to Ottawa.

I was chatting with her about all the work I had put into the dresser and explained that I had found 5 layers of paint. My last comment was greeted with silence. After about 10 seconds my Mom explained, quite patiently, that with 5 kids, it was usually necessary to repaint our furniture after someone would ruin the finish. Apparently, I had been responsible for necessitating 4 of the 5 layers of paint on that dresser. Do the math; I’ll wait. Have I told you I have the best Mom in the world?

Another time, I mentioned to my Mom that I had seen a mother in downtown Ottawa with her toddler in a 5-point harness, on a tether. I joked about kids needing to be on a leash. Once again, the 10-second silence break, after which my Mom explains; “I tried everything, but you would never listen and would always wander around no matter what I did.”

Obviously while in Ottawa I was channeling politicians, opening my mouth just to change feet. This is the period in my life when I should have laced my shoes with dental floss.

A few years later, while living in Guelph, I had driven to Toronto to pick up my parents. My Mom would always let my Dad (we called him Big Al, which I will detail in a later blog) sit in the front, so Mom was in the back seat with my daughters. As we were driving by Pearson Airport, Big Al looks over at the digital dash and says; “Ooh, 130, is that you’re oil pressure?”

“No” I answered, “that’s the speedometer,” From the back seat my Mom perks up with “Oh, I’ve never done 130 before!” Being the eternal smartass, I shot back with “Welcome to Toronto Mom!” Did you know that I have the best Mom in the world?

Every single one of these foibles, adventures, and events was forgotten (if not forgiven) when my Mom was able to hold in her arms her very first grandchild. As young women, Amanda & Erin have made a habit of visiting with their Granny for a week a year, at the end of the summer. This is something that all 3 of them look forward to. Amanda will actually be proof-reading this while visiting her Granny. Did I mention that she is the best Mom in the world?

No matter what others thought of me, my Mom always knew that the world was a better place. She may have thought that it was a better place because of me, BUT I will always know that the world is a better place because of her.

My sister and her wife are now mothers themselves, and the world will be a better place.

Welcome to our world Ruby. You have the best Moms in the world!

Cheers Ruby!