Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother was born on this day in 1937.

Out of curiosity, I got a list of other people who were born in that same year. I was surprised at some of them.

Madeleine Albright. Sergio Aragones. Max Baer, Jr. Ned Beatty. Warren Beatty. Don Bluth. Dyan Cannon. George Carlin. Billy Carter. Johnnie Cochran. Peter Cook. Bill Cosby. Yvonne Craig. Robert Crippen. Sandy Dennis. Bobby Driscoll. Kitty Dukakis. Bob Eubanks. Don Everly. Freddy Fender. Tom Flores. Jane Fonda. Morgan Freeman. Merle Haggard. Dustin Hoffman. Anthony Hopkins. Saddam Hussein. Waylon Jennings. Sally Kellerman. Marty Krofft. Linda Lavin. Gary Lockwood. Trina Lopez. James MacArthur. Garrett Morris. Jack Nicholson. Margaret O’Brien. Richard Petty. Suzanne Pleshette. Colin Powell. Thomas Pynchon. Vanessa Redgrave. Jerry Reed. Kenny Rogers. Charles Schwab. Ridley Scott. Fred Silverman. Tommy Smothers. Boris Spassky. Barbara Steele. Paul Stookey. Tom Stoppard. Loretta Swit. Marlo Thomas. Hunter S. Thompson. Frankie Valli. Joseph Wambaugh. Billy Dee Williams. Nancy Wilson. Jo Anne Worley. Roger Zelazny. Mort Zuckerman.

Lots of famous people. Lots of successful people. Lots of messed-up people. Lots of people who, given the opportunity, might trade in the life that they had for a life like the one my mother has had, one that has been devoted to helping other people rather than helping themselves. There is a lot to be said for not having your mug splashed on the pages of every newspaper in the country, or being trailed by reporters everywhere you go, or having every word out of your mouth analyzed and cross-examined and dissected, or being held up to the light of History to be judged and found wanting.

There is a lot to be said for having the intelligence and compassion and ability not only to work a full-time job, but to help raise a family as well, to put a husband through school, to help him see his dreams come true, to stand beside him every step of the way, to acknowledge one’s own shortcomings and forgive those of others, to work hard at a job that can be joyful and sad and happy and tragic, to experience the highs and lows of birth and death, sometimes within the same day, to come home to diapers and sickness and clutter and frustration and teenagers and bills and endless lists of things to do, and still manage to keep a smile on one’s face.

That’s my Mom.

Favorite memory of my Mom: standing in the kitchen of our house back in Richmond, washing dishes and talking, talking, talking. It’s always a joy to talk to Mom because we can talk about anything. She likes to talk and she likes to listen; she isn’t critical or judgemental and doesn’t take you too seriously when she knows you’re just venting. She’s easygoing and laid back and knows how to laugh.

She’s also a gadget person, which probably explains why she’s been able to keep up with technology (email, etc.). She likes cool gadgets and interesting tools that just might make life a little easier, a little more fun. It was always a blast to see what kinds of things she would find in the FingerHut catalog.

Well, Mom, you’ll be happy to know that you’ve passed that characteristic down to at least one of your grandchildren. James is a total gadget freak, too, which is why we’re keeping the FingerHut catalog far, far away from him! And next time he wants to try out some nifty gadgets, we’re sending him down to your house to play with your stuff!

Happy Birthday, Mom!