We journeyed to St. Louis, Missouri yesterday and had a lovely visit. The Galleria was full of people and if you did not have a good memory you would not believe that our Pandemic had been so virulent just a few months ago. A few people were wearing face masks but many were not. Then and nice lunch at Bella Milano in O’Fallon Illinois. I reflected yesterday and of course today on what a Supermom MJ is. Since the day of Aaron and Jonathons’ birth…they have been her life and singular focus. She loves her boys! She homeschooled them for many years to afford them the opportunity to be with me during my off hours from the University as I worked nights for nearly 20 years. Now MJ is a certified teacher…but the dedication that is required to homeschool effectively is herculean.

Neva J., my mom, was a wonderful mom. She was a compassionate person with a fiery temper. If she had two dollars and you were in need she would give you one of the two dollars. She quit high school after her sophomore year to go to work in the shoe factory…because she was so poor. She would wake me in the morning for school by proclaiming, ‘Hit the deck…you rubberneck!’ She loved to dance and have an occasional Slo-Gin Fizz. She loved Jesus and attended church…for the last half of her life.

Moms are the foundation of our society. So much of what I think and say and do…came from Neva J. She taught me to care for those who are in need. I have her temper…although I try not to show it…too often.

Billy B. was having some difficulty wrapping Neva J.s’ Mothers’ Day present. He had found an antique mirror at one of the Antique Stores in Eldorado…and it seemed to have Neva J.s’ name written upon it. Neva J. was a great collector of antiques. Billy called Jane and asked if she could come to his house and assist him with the mirror wrapping. Jane said absolutely and that she would be there in thirty minutes. Neva J. had been reading a book about the Sleeping Prophet, Edgar Cayce, and she was enthralled with it. Edgar had been reputed to heal many of his patients by sleeping and then entering a spiritual state whereby he could diagnose their ailments and prescribe the cure. He also was said to have seen the future and prophesied events that had not yet happened.

‘That should just about do it,’ said Billy B. Jane then placed a large red bow on the neatly wrapped antique mirror, and then she asked, ‘Do you think that it really is magic…Billy?’ ‘Let’s watch Mom’s face when she opens it, replied Billy. ‘Mom…come into the New Room…Jane and I have a present for you,’ announced Billy B.’ ‘Oh my goodness…what an exquisite mirror,’ exclaimed Neva J. ‘There we are in the reflection…but who is that behind us,’ Neva J. asked. It looks like Grandma Askew…but she is much younger…and who is that little dark-headed girl standing next to her,’ asked Billy B?

Neva J. wept tears of joy as she gazed at her precious mother and the precocious girl that stood next to her…who loved the needy and who had a fiery temper…