Gratitude #7 – My Mom

Today is my wee Irish mither’s birthday. It seems like an auspicious time to express my gratitude that my mom is my mom. Trying to list all the reasons my mom rocks would probably take forever and make this post crazy long. Instead, allow me to share some of my favorite stuff about her…

My mom stayed home with me until I was 8 years old. That meant we had tons of time to hang out and do stuff together. Here, we’re with my childhood dog, Brutus, who was awesome. I don’t know why I look like I’m screaming my head off.

She got me involved in activities like modeling/charm school and Girl Scouts. Modeling school was much more fun than you’d think. I guess I was a bit girlier back then. But it’s also one of the reasons I have impeccable table manners. Girl Scouts was a great experience and I learned a lot of cool skills there. My mom was one of our troop leaders.

modeling school …. Girl Scouts (mom’s on crutches)

My mom loves animals. We had animals living with us my whole life. Now, she has a little white dog named Mynu that she adores and she has turned her back yard into a wildlife paradise. From my parents’ sunroom, you can watch dozens of types of songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies… you name it. She keeps plenty of food and fresh water out for the backyard menagerie and the word has spread among the masses. Every year, it seems like there are more beautiful and adorable critters living there than the last.

Mom (from Ireland) and Mynu celebrating St Patrick’s Day
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Mom smooching a deer

My mom always wanted a tattoo, so in 2012 she got one. I don’t know if she’s weird about saying her age, so I’ll just note that she had great grandchildren when she got her ink.

Tattooed great grandma

And, finally, one of my *favorite* mom stories of all time… In 2001, I was considering going to law school. There was an all-day law school expo at a fancy hotel in DC and my mom kindly came along to keep me company. While I was in an informational session about financial aid or something, she entertained herself by looking around the hotel. In another conference space, people were holding auditions for a new television show. On a lark, my mom decided to audition.

They LOVED her. They loved her humor and her Irish accent and the spunky manner one might not expect from a wee grandmother type. When I emerged from my info session, she asked if we could stay a little longer because she had a callback! She ended up going through 2 or 3 more callbacks before they asked her to be on the show. If you can get your hands on a copy of a 2001 series called Pop Across America, you can see my mom in their first 2 episodes.

The best part? Her co-star on the program was none other than the Godfather of Soul himself, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business… James Brown. She not being a fan of the genre, I had to tell her who he was. She said he was quite nice and she took a bunch of great photos with him outside her trailer (she had her own trailer!). I’ve actually been searching my hard drives for the past 3 hours looking for one of the pics, but couldn’t locate one. That’s why this post is now actually publishing on the day after my mom’s birthday. Maybe mom will give me one to upload later.

Some guy who was on TV with my mom

I’m grateful for having such a fun-loving, brazen, involved mom. She’s pretty damn awesome. (And she’s got more SAG credits than me!)