We had six kids at home when I was growing up. Dad was a Marine and mom stayed home with the kids. She kept a meticulous home and still does at 82 years old.

We weren’t allowed to just go into the refrigerator and get something to eat. Do you remember that? Or was it just our family? It was hard to feed and clothe a family of six kids.

Mom fixed a full course breafast every morning before we headed out for school. We had eggs, grits, bacon (or sausage) and homemade biscuits and milk.

Mom fixed lunch for Dad and he came home to a hot cooked meal every day. Sometimes, it would be beans and cornbread. I remember walking home for lunch when we lived close to the school, too. It was great seeing Mom in the middle of the day.

For supper, we had a full course dinner, too. If we were really lucky, on Friday night we could either have hamburgers, hot dogs or sandwiches with a soda.

I see now why Mom doesn’t really like to cook anymore. I figure she must have cooked close to 76,000 meals in her lifetime.

How many meals a week do you cook? Most people eat cereal or something quick and easy for breakfast and grab a burger or salad for lunch. Then if you are too tired, you grab something to take home for dinner or order a pizza. Life has really changed in so many ways.

Someone asked me “With all the traveling you have done, where would you most like to live?” I thought for a moment and then said “at my Mom’s home.” I am very blessed to have a mother who is the closest thing there is to a “saint”. I have no doubt in my mind that she is the best mother in the whole-wide world.

My daughter, Amber told me one day that she was becoming more and more like me. She was talking about cleaning her house, I believe. I told her to look to Grandma because that is your final goal.

My Dad will be 93 in November. He is still a strong, independent marine in my mind and heart. A man who can do anything. But reality is that Mom works very hard to care for him. He has COPD from all the years of smoking. He smoked until 1968. He quit cold turkey. That had to be hard. I never smoked and that is probably why. I was graduating from high school when the doctor told him to quit or he would have emphysema so badly that he wouldn’t be able to walk across the street. That is a reality now. He uses oxygen every night and sometimes during the day. When I see someone smoke, I wish I could find a way to convince them to quit.

Mom and Dad live with my youngest sister now and my oldest sister lives two doors down. I wish I could be there to help out with the numerous doctor appointments and running errands for them. My other sister lives in a nearby town and she is there for them, too. Mom realizes how blessed she is to have children who love her so much and would do anything for her and Dad. What she doesn’t realize is because of her love and devotion to us, she taught us compassion and love and respect.

Someday, my Mom will go to be with the Lord and I will lose my very best friend. But I believe we will all meet again someday.