Lessons Mom Taught Me

I thought I posted this blog on July 25. I found it among my drafts. Sorry it’s late.

My mother turned 82 this week. She formed a lot of my thinking and attitude. While my father taught by aphorism, Mom taught by experience. I learned the following lessons from her.

Choose Ye This Day Whom Ye Shall Serve

Mom chose to serve God at a young age. She taught her children to do the same. She never coerced, forced, or brainwashed us to believe. She firmly believed it had to be our choice. Then, she taught us how to make choices. She demonstrated that serving God included many choices after the first one. However, that first choice made all the others easier.

She helped us recognize the need for rules and order to keep society and families safe. Every time we went out she would remind us to obey rule “4, 7, 12, & 13”. We never knew what the numbers meant. We just knew they meant no drugs, no drinking, no smoking, no immorality, and no hurting others. Her final comment to us would seal the message “Be Good and Have Fun. You can do both. You just have to work harder at it”.

Build Great Memories

Mom taught me the power of memories over materials. She inspired us to do things. I sold light bulbs door-to-door to earn the money to tour Canada at age 15 on my way to the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Coeur d’ Lain, Idaho. Two years later my light bulbs got me to Japan for the World Jamboree where I hiked Mount Fuji in a typhoon.

She arranged twice for me to learn grace and charm through Ruddick's Cotillion and a private dance teacher. She took us to New Orleans for Mardi Gras when my father had a convention to attend. She and Dad stayed for the convention. We children flew home by ourselves when I, as the oldest, was 12. She sponsored a party at my house every year for 9 years on the night of the great cross-town rivalry football game. She invited our friends from both schools so that we would stay close and not let the rivalry ruin our friendships.

She gave me the idea for my first date on my 16th birthday. It was my date’s 16th birthday too. I’d loved her since we were 13. I will never forget the date, nor the day April 21, 1970. I picked Mara Lyn up around 3:30. Mom drove us (I didn’t have my license yet) to the Hollywood/Burbank Airport. We flew to San Diego, caught a taxi, that drove us over the bridge to Coronado Island. We dined at the Hotel del Coronado. No one else was in the restaurant. We walked on the beach at sunset. We flew back to Burbank and met our friends (including Mara Lyn’s boyfriend Ken) at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor for a party.

Mom recently paid for all of her children and their spouses to tour the Holy Land. Dad joined us. Illness prevented Mom from travelling with us. We missed her. She gave us a great memory.I’ve built a lot of memories on my own since then. I’ve helped my children build great memories.

Serve to Your Fellow Being

Mom gave birth to four children. She wanted more, but medical problems prevented it. So, she and Dad fostered five other children: 2 Native American boys under 12, 2 disadvantaged teens, and 1 Japanese foreign exchange student. All them were loved and treated like family. We still keep in touch with some of them.

In addition, Mom quietly looked for people in need. She anonymously gave them money to buy clothing, food, and other necessities of life. We only found out about it later in life. She donated to our Church, the community, and others. She encouraged her children to volunteer for an international non-government organization in England, Chile, Australia, and Brazil.

Mom taught me so many more ideals, values, and responsibilities. She taught us to get all the education we could. She went for a graduate degree in her 50’s. All of her children graduated from college. Two of us have graduate degrees. She taught us to travel as she traveled. She taught us to work and work hard. She hosted her own cooking show on television in the 50’s. She taught me the equality of the sexes and races before civil rights. She gave me such great experiences and lessons.

Thanks mom. I love you. I appreciate all you taught me. Thanks for the memories.