For many people, Mother’s Day is one of the best days of the year. We all have a reason to celebrate, if it weren’t for your mother, you wouldn’t be here!
Mother’s Day is often the first type of outdoor family activity of the season for those stuck in the great white north. The flowers are out, the birds are chirping, flowering trees and shrubs are vibrant, and the light green color of the newly opened leaves gives everyone a feeling of renewal. While I was never there, my wife still fondly recalls her childhood Mother’s Day trips to NH where her mom was Queen for the day.
Now for us, Mother’s Day is celebrating mothers of 7.5 grandchildren and their grandmother, Joan. Between earaches, colds, and other child realities, it isn’t always the all-hands-on-deck celebration that you may imagine, but we make the best of it.
For posterity’s sake, I’ll share a few facts about my mom and our growing up in a very blue-collar working household.
When I was born in 1956, my mother had just turned 18. That means when I graduated high school, she was not quite 36.
She was the second born in a hard-working household of four children with a dad who was a WW II Vet and a mother who worked in an Italian bakery in the NYC area for a long, long time. And yes, we had fresh NYC Italian bread every day. Just like the old days, my mom was the cook, taxi driver, and housekeeper. There was no household help in my childhood.
All six of us lived in two-bedroom apartments with a dining room converted to a third bedroom. We all had roommates until Mom and Dad bought their first and only home for $27,000 when I was in 10th grade.
She was not a sports fan, but never missed a little league game. She rooted for the home team like it was her other job. She served as team mother and the pack mother of my cub scouts’ group for many years… even though there were three other brothers who followed me. She had them all in tow and showed up proud. She let us have grand birthday parties, sleepovers with my dear cousin Lenny and holiday celebrations that I have a hard time replicating.
She didn’t finish high school… I suppose you can blame me for that. She was proud of her clan beyond belief. I credit her enthusiasm for life as the core reason for my success. She said to us millions of times… “You can be anything you want and achieve whatever you want in this life.” I eventually began to believe her.
Unfortunately, she left this world too early. Stricken with cancer, she lived to age 46. While each year in our Jimmy Fund Golf Fundraising Tournament we are known to honor a current friend or client who has been or is being treated, she is the core reason why we chose to support cancer research. Unfortunately, cancer touches everyone.
This year’s outing is Monday September 23 at the Marshfield Country Club. We would appreciate your donations and attendance at this very important outing.
I hope you had a fulfilling mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers’ day.
A heartfelt thanks to all mothers from the Team at Napier Financial. Without you and your strong quest for legacy and making sure your children have opportunities to love life, we wouldn’t be in business. We love what we do, and love helping you fulfill that legacy vision to pass on your values and financial assets for generations to come.
