one in three hundred million

My mother is not a force to mess with.


A recent anonymous commenter took me to task for planning to leave my "elderly mother" behind when I return to Mexico.


As some of you know, my mother not only reads this blog.  She is a regular contributor to the comments section.


I called her to ask if she had read the comments.  Her response?  "Who's calling me elderly."


Chronologically, my mother has passed into her early eighties.


But "elderly" is not one of the adjectives I would use to describe her.


Until last year, she was actively involved in her real estate business.  (She managed to avoid retirement until I had been retired for a year.)  Not to mention her political, social, and faith commitments.  She is probably busier than I ever was at the height of my career.


I can only imagine what the anonymous commenter would have thought had he come in contact with her.


After all, my mother is the woman who shocked the DAR with her stories of how my father is descended from the first person hanged for murder in Massachusetts Bay Colony.  She is never adverse to passing along a good tale.


As I sit here early on Sunday morning thinking about Mother's Day, it is not hard for me to think of a long list of reasons to make me proud to be Marilyn Cotton's son.


From her, I learned to read and write at a young age -- skills that have molded my life. 


She taught me the importance of faith -- why our belief in God always leads to offering our hearts and hands to our fellow humans: both friend and enemy.


The fundamentals of my political beliefs came directly from her.  I added the libertarian mix into our family's political tradition.  But she showed me the importance of protecting individual liberty.  And why it matters.


But, most of all, she has always been there to hear my concerns or to urge me on through countless school events and as my first fan during my brief political career.


I can never repay her for her love.  That is fortunate because she has never expected repayment.


The best I can do is to try to be a fraction of the person she is.


Happy Mother's Day, Mom.
 

Thanks.