Rant #1,628: Mom

Today is my mother's 85 birthday.

I find that hard to believe, but yes, she is 85 years old today.

She doesn't look it. She was always very thin, has kept herself in fine shape over the years, and she looks like she is in her 60s, certainly not 85.

She is sharp as a tack, has all her faculties--and even then some--as I have always thought my mother had a seventh sense, about me.

You could never pull the wool over her eyes, ever, and to this day, when I hear her call me "Lawrence," I know that I am in trouble.

I am not going to go into her beginnings, because I went over that recently when I spoke about her and my father's 60th wedding anniversary.

But I am going to tell you that as the matriarch of our family, she has influenced every one of us, probably me the most, since I was the first.

The first child, the first grandchild, the first grandson, probably some other firsts I am forgetting ... I was the guy that was anointed in our family as the first of the next generation.

From the moment I was born, that put a lot on my head.

My mother steered me in the right direction.

She gave me my creativity, my sense of wonder, and my sense of being.

When I was a little kid, she was the one I had to report to.

And yes, I was a difficult child, and when I saw that my father's belt was hung up on the hallway door, I knew that I was in major trouble.

When I got older, I settled down to an extent, and had to learn the trials and tribulations of life myself, but my mother set me on the right path, a path that I think I am still on.

I simply cannot believe that my mother is 85 today. She has always been so young thinking, so modern, and so progressive, that she can't possibly be 85.

But that is what she is.

We all get older, but we all don't age well.

She has, and I hope that if I can reach that age, I can be as youthful as she is.

So happy birthday to my mother.

She probably still stands as the greatest influence in my life--my father notwithstanding, but he will have his day in the sun in November--and certainly a great influence on other people in our family, including my sister, my wife and my sister's husband, and my mom's five grandchildren, four boys and one girl.

I am sure that when she looks back, she can't believe that she is 85 herself.

Where have all the years gone, and where will the next 85 years take her?

Speak to you again on Monday.