A Letter For My Mother

Hi mom, happy Mother’s Day! I hope you are well. I just wanted to send you a note to let you know I was thinking about you.

As I was thinking about what I wanted to say, I was kind of overcome with the realization of all of the things you did for me personally, and for our whole family.

I know when I was a child I was the most troublesome of all of your kids. Part of this I think was because I was the middle of your three sons, and whenever there was a fight I was always involved with one of my brothers. Another part of this was I was a schemer, and a sneak; I thought I was smarter than everyone else, and tried to prove it by pulling off schemes to get what I wanted.

As troublesome as I was, your love for me never wavered, and neither did your patience. For this you have my eternal gratitude; I credit you in great part for me growing up to be the man I am today.

As a child, Dad was my hero, but it was you who was my rock. You were always there when I needed love, or someone to understand what I was going through. You made sure I had a good lunch when I left for school, and our family had a good meal every night for supper. My clothes were always clean, and you even let me listen to the Rock-N-Roll radio station.

When I think back I remember all of the wisdom you passed on to me; and in spite of my hard head, much of it has stuck with me.

In closing, I want to thank you for all of these things, and anything I may have left out. I thank you for taking nine months out of your life to carry me in your womb, and for the pain you endured to bear me. I owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid in one lifetime; all I can do is pass the love, and wisdom you gave me unto your grandchildren.

I love you mom.

Big Mouths

Teddy Roosevelt had a famous saying: "Talk softly, and carry a big stick". These were wise words because, if you truly know what you are talking about, you don't need to say it loudly.

Nowadays, we have a proliferation of people who go by a different creed: "Talk loudly, and carry a big chip on your shoulder". Bill O'Reilly is the poster boy for these people. Be as loud and obnoxious as possible, that's their mantra. Bill is certainly not alone; CNN, FOX News, and even blogger feature a host of these know-it-alls.

I have always been of the opinion that the louder and more obnoxious a person is, the less that person knows what he is talking about. These people use name-calling, their brusque, mean demeanor, and "you wanna fight?" attitude, to cover the fact that they are not very intelligent. It is a smokescreen that anyone with a modicum of intelligence can see through.

Being the gregarious sort of guy that I am, I have some words of wisdom for these people:

1. If you have nothing worthwhile to say...shut up!
2. If you don't know what you are talking about...shut up!
3. If you can't state your views without name calling, bullying, and swearing...shut up!

As my father used to say, "It is better to be quiet and have people think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Are You Man Enough?

I grew up with two brothers. One was older than me, the other younger. We were all separated by one year intervals, so we grew up fairly close in age. This, of course, meant that we fought...a lot. Being the middle son, it seems that I was always in the middle of one of the fights. My older, and my younger, brothers seldom fought amongst each other.

My dad, knew that boys, would be boys, and he did not interfere with most of our squabbles (unless something got broke, then we all got spanked). But, woe to the child that started something then came running to him for help. His answer to that kid (usually me), was always firm; "If you're man enough to dish it out, you better be man enough to take it! There is nothing worse than someone who can dish it out, but can't take it!"

These words are the wisdom by which I live my life. They taught me quite a few things such as: taking responsibility for my actions, empathy for others, and that what ever I did to someone else, I had better be able to take when someone did it to me.

These three things are the cornerstone of our interpersonal relationships. Those who have learned, and follow them, are well adjusted, and normally get along with others. Those who haven't learned them are maladjusted, and unpopular. Nobody wants to associate with someone who can't "play well" with others.

We all know some of these "don't play well with others" type of people. These folks feel that they have carte blanch to do, or say, anything they want to others; but are quick to take offense when someone responds in kind to them. Perhaps they just don't realize that their behavior is churlish, and childish. Maybe they just aren't smart enough to grasp the lessons most others mastered in elementary school.

Maybe they just weren't lucky enough to have a dad like mine.