Hey mom, happy Mothers Day!

Yes I may be 50 (something), but I am still a mommas boy.

My mom was a single parent of 5 (2 girls, 3 boys) and we were poor (though I didn't know it when I was younger). We lived in the projects in the Boston area and my mom struggled to make ends meet with some pretty crappy jobs, cleaning other peoples homes and taking in their laundry.

The two things I remember most from those times were being happy and always having an outstanding Christmas. No matter what the year had held for us, when Christmas came it was magical. It seemed no matter what we had asked for from Santa, we would find it under the tree on Christmas morning.

I knew there just had to be a Santa because there was no way my mom could afford to buy us these things.

Well, when I got a little older, I knew the big man was more myth than man but I couldn't figure out how my mom did it, how she made Christmas "happen". Because by then understood clearly, we were poor.

Then one day I happened upon five envelopes that were all rubber banned together. One had my name on it and the others had the names of my brothers and sisters. Each envelope had the exact same amount of money in it, all in one dollar bills and loose change.

Then it dawned on me, after a long day of cleaning houses my mom would take some of that days  money and split it evenly between those 5 envelopes. And she would do this after every basket of laundry, after every dirty house, all year long. So by the time Christmas came, mom could make the magic happen.

Though at the time I understood the process, I could not fully appreciate all her hard work and all that sacrifice until I was older.

As I write this it still amazes me.

And I know why we were happy, because we were loved.

Well, it's time to head to mom's. My daughters love this for several reasons, not the least of which is that when I walk through her door I am no longer their dad, I am my mothers son. They get a kick seeing me in that role.

The picture below is from a few years back, the girls made my mom a cake that looked like a platter of spaghetti and meatballs (cream cheese "spaghetti" frosting, strawberry "sauce" topping).

Happy Mothers Day mom, I love you!