Listen to Your Mother

Today would have been my mom’s 88^th birthday. She passed away almost 20 years ago now. It’s hard to believe. Not to be trite, but it’s true that not a day goes by where I don’t think of her.

So today is a good day to tell you about how I’ll be in the 2019 Listen To Your Mother Rochester show that was recently announced. Somehow, I’ve been selected to be featured in it, along with a dozen other people who will be reading their touching, funny, crazy or all-of-the-above 5-minute stories on the topic of motherhood. It’s a nationwide show, with more than 50 cities participating and the Rochester show in its 5th year. I’m honored to be in the cast. Saturday May 11 at the Hochstein. Tickets are available at ROC The Mic. Proceeds benefit the Society for the Protection and Care of Children.

The essay I’ll be reading happens to be about my mother: “Bad Mom.” What’s cool about being selected for the show isn’t so much that I passed the audition, but that I had the courage to audition at all.

A Facebook Memory came up today from back when my son Evan was 10, and I thought it particularly appropriate for today:

Today I visited Mom’s grave on her birthday. I kneeled at the stone for several minutes while the boys sat in the car. When we got home and I put the key in the door, Evan suddenly whispered, “I bet she’s proud of you.” I replied, “Who?” Evan put his hand on my shoulder, looked deep into my eyes and said, “Your Mom. I bet she’s proud of you.”

Happy Birthday, Mom.