a tribute to my Mother

In 24 days my mother is turning 50. I never know what to get my mom on her birthday (or christmas) because she doesn't like things that 'clutter' her house and she's not big on surprises so she generally just prefers to pick things out herself.
To get the festivities started early, though, I'd like to give a gift to my mother now.

For the next 24 days, I am going to post memories I have of my mother.
It won't clutter her house and theoretically non of it will be a surprise.

So, I start tonight with memory one.


The summer before 4th grade I broke my arm when I was hit by a bike. An ambulance happened to be driving by as the collision occurred. This of course meant that when my mother was fetched from next door she came out to see her daughter on the ground with an ambulance there and a medic examining me. poor mother. anyhow, this is not the part of the story I want to tell today. While I was in the ambulance, the medic gave me a stuffed bear to hold. It was the last one of their current stash. I can't tell you how much comfort it brought me - such a simple thing as having something soft to hold.

A few weeks after the incident, my mother told me to gather up a large bag of my stuffed animals, including the one I had gotten from the ambulance. We took a walk down to the station (it was just down the block back then) and found the people who had driven me to the hospital that day. We gave them the stuffed animals to replenish their stash.

My mother taught me from an early age the importance of sharing what you have. We didn't need all our stuffed animals - but she had seen how much it had meant for me to have that in the ambulance. Returning the toy with a donation of more was a natural response for her and I will never forget her devotion to giving back to the community.