I’m lucky to both live close to my parents and have a good relationship with them. My kids are probably the greatest beneficiaries. Today we had a wonderful evening together eating BBQ and celebrating my Mom.
After dinner my youngest brother was horsing around and shook up a can of soda then opened it. It didn’t explode (he was disappointed, haha) but it reminded me of one of my favorite stories about my mom.
Mom was the youngest of four siblings. Her next oldest sibling, my Aunt Sue, was a teenager when Mom was in elementary school. Sue would give her money and send her to the corner store to get a Coke. Mom would walk up the hill to the store, but the Coke, then roll the Coke down the hill on the way home. She would then give the Coke to Sue and wait outside the door for the explosion. If she was fast she could hear the can explode and run away before she got caught.
Such moxy. Seeing my brother try and pull his shaken can trick made me think of that story, and of a quote from Mitch Albom:
But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.
Happy Mother’s Day to you Mom and to all Mothers out there! Thank you for all you do and for being the beginning of our stories.