My Mom: The Brains of the Outfit

Since my Mom threatened me not to write any more stories about her, I decided to take it to the next level and dedicate an entire blog post to her. However, I can’t fault her, she is after all my mother. On the other side, she is an interesting person, and worth writing about, as well as reading about.

My Mom is an intelligent woman, graduated from Indiana University, English teacher, and History teacher. She deals with the most interesting circumstances where she gets to be the voice of reason and logic.

Case and point, when I was growing up, my Mom had a good friend. A very colorful and bubbly woman. My Mom’s friend had a son who was in college and recently told his mother that he got an A in Calculus.

In talking to her friend, my Mom got the feeling that her friend wasn’t impressed by her son’s achievement. To which her friend replies, “Why should I be impressed? All it is is jumping jacks and push ups!”

To which my Mom, the voice of reason tells her friend, “That’s calisthenics! Calculus is very tough Mathematics!”

“Oh, I best congratulate him then.”, said my Mom’s friend.


As I said earlier, my Granny took us to London England. There, my Mom once again became the voice of reason.

We were on a tour bus in London, and the young tour guide was telling us that Americans may drive on the right side of the road, but the British drive on the CORRECT side of the road.

The tour guide then explains that apparently the whole right side and left side of the road had to do with Napoleon. Apparently he decreed that the right side was the way to go, and the British in defiance choose the left side. Then the guide explained that she didn’t have a clue why we drove on the right side in the United States.

My Mom then takes the floor, giving the tour guide a small history lesson. “Yes we had a bit of a disagreement way back when. We called it the American Revolution. You might have learned that your General Cornwallis was surrounded by American land forces and a French fleet. We were definitely pro French back then.”


Although I think one of my favorite moments with my Mom and her reasoning, was during a very sad time in my life. When my Granny passed away from cancer, she lost a lot of weight. My Mom, brother, and I went to JC Penney’s to buy some smaller sized clothing for my Granny to be buried in. After looking, we found some clothes that looked suitable to be in a style that Granny would have worn.

We approach the sales register with the garments, and the saleslady behind the counter, not knowing about the clothes and whom they were for, inquires, “And will you be needing a gift receipt for this in case it needs to be returned?”

My Mom, not missing a beat, looks the cashier directly in the eyes and says, “IF THESE CLOTHES COME BACK I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT!”

We broke out in laughter, which was I think the first time we laughed together since hearing the sad news. I think Granny would have appreciated the humor.


I like to think I have a lot of my Mom’s reason in me. Though I also have my Dad’s stubbornness, and some of my Granny’s outgoing personality. It makes me a well-rounded person in my opinion.

Thank you Mom for being that voice of reason sometimes! I know that like all children, I tested the limits of patience sometimes, but I do appreciate you and all you have done for me over all these years! I love you!

Now feel free to fire back at me…