oday is my mom’s 60th birthday.  I can’t believe my mom is 60!  It’s incredible how much the concept of being “60″ has changed over the years.  60 is definitely the new 50.  I’ve been reflecting on my mom’s birthday a lot the past month or so, much the same way I’m sure parents do with their children.  I have come to the conclusion that I have the best mom in the world.  I’m sorry to everyone else’s mom, and I mean no offense, but my mom is just… THE best.  Not that I’m biased of course…

I don’t even know where to begin in explaining why my mom is the best.  But what stands out to me is something I’ve really come to realize and appreciate in my adult life – my mom is the most selfless person I know.  She’s done and still does so many things for so many people without EVER expecting anything in return — whether it was in her job as a teacher, or as a volunteer working in the schools and maintaining the town gardens, or cooking COUNTLESS meals and desserts for people’s birthdays or when someone was sick, or putting our family’s needs before hers time and time again.  And my mom has done even more things that no one will probably ever know about, because it’s never been my mom’s way to be showy or to flaunt her benevolence.

One of the ways in which my mom is most selfless is in regards to her family.  Something I’ve always kept in my heart about the extent of my mom’s love goes back to when I was about to start my freshman year of college.  The summer before I left, I had an overnight orientation at college.  Well while we were there, my mom had a heart attack.  I didn’t know until weeks later when a family member inadvertently told me (not knowing that I didn’t know).  My mom didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to “damper” this major event in my life.  And that right there is one of the best examples I can give of the strength of character of my mom, and the extent to which she is willing to sacrifice for her family.  It’s all of the little things too… my brothers and I had the best birthday parties growing up by far.  She made games and accommodated whatever “theme” we wanted.  When my brother Tony was a teenager, she never refused letting his friends come over and “jam” at our house (often much to my chagrin, haha) and fed them on top of that!  (that’s a huge price tag as we all know the appetites of teenage boys!).  And over the years, I think we’ve had just about all of our male cousins live with us at some point.  My mom always organizes reunions for my dad’s family.  This isn’t something she has to do.  It requires a lot of work — but she does it because she knows how important it is to the family.

The biggest way in which my mom has been selfless has been in how she’s always encouraged my brothers and I to dream big and go after whatever we want — even though it’s meant that it’s taken us far away from her at times.  I think my mom understands that you should never let your own emotions stand in the way of another person’s destiny.  Not all parents can do that.

I have so many good memories of times that my mom and I have spent together.  Unlike my mom, I am a little selfish and I’m glad that I’ve never had a sister to have to share her with.  :-)  I SO MUCH appreciate that my mom has been letting me whine to her for 28 years!!!!  No one else would ever put up with my whining.  (Funny note – the first time my friend Tedi came home with me for a visit, she heard me whine to my mom and said “WOW, I’ve never heard you whine before!”  Yep, luckily for mom I save it ALL up just for her.  I know she loves it deep down……….. well, maybe not!).  And as an adult, she’s become someone I feel like I can have open and honest conversations with… and still whine too.  I very much enjoy making my mom watch movies that I find to be immature and that feed my teenage boy-like humor (oh how I loved making her watch “Borat” and “The Hangover”).  My two favorite memories of time my mom and I have spent together were on two different trips.  The first is a trip we took to Disney World, just the two of us.  The Aerosmith ride was new at MGM, and we had no idea what it was until we got into the ride.  Well, for those of you who don’t know, it’s a rollercoaster… and my mom does not do rollercoasters.  Ever.  I wasn’t about to let her turn around because I on the other hand LOVE them (this was after she’d had the heart attack too… Leah’s selfishness rears its ugly head again).  My mom, good sport that she is, made it through the ride just fine… but I’m pretty sure she was yelling the whole way.  My other favorite memory is on our cross-country road trip when I moved out here to CA.  I frankly am still shocked to this day that my father trusted the two of us to drive across country by ourselves!  We had a fight at least every day we were on the road as I recall (it got especially bad when my laptop fell out of the car………..moving along…).  But it was honestly the trip of a lifetime and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone but her.  The day she left though was probably my worst day in LA.  Truth be told… a lot of the time when I say I’m feeling homesick, it’s not really home I miss so much, it’s my mom – and the old man, can’t leave him out.  :-)

People have asked me as an adult where my confidence comes from.  People have asked me where my ability to accept and be open-minded comes from when I grew up in a pretty un-diverse place.  I attribute that to my mom.  Even though my mom came from pretty humble roots in a rural setting in northern Maine, she’s always treated everyone equally, and stressed how important it was for my brothers and I to do the same.  My mom has always stood up for what was right even when it wasn’t the easy or popular thing to do.

When I think of the term “unsung hero”, my mom is immediately who pops into my mind.  So many of you know my mom, and I bet if you know her, then in some way she’s done something for you.  My mom doesn’t want for or ask for a lot, but she deserves to be honored and to know the impact she’s had on others.

Happy Birthday to THE best mom, at least in my world.  :-)

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