Why My Mom is the Best

We have been asked to write why our mom is, quote, the best.

Of course, many people would say their mom is the best, or at least that their mom makes the best meat loaf or whatever.

My own mother, Dorothy Bamberger, makes the best french toast, very eggy and cooked slowly and served with blueberries. She would be feel uncomfortable being described as "the best mom," even though I'm sure my brother and I, at some point over the years, have given her one of those mugs stenciled with the words WORLD'S BEST MOM.

Our mother would say that there is no competition among mothers to be, quote, the best, that every mother does it her own way and tries her best. Still, I do believe that our mom is the best. You could search the world and you will never find anybody who has anything bad to say to her. She is deeply kind and fair to all. She grew beautiful flowers in her garden for many decades, went for long swims in various continents and had a delicious supper on the table seven nights a week in an era when people went out for dinner on their anniversaries, and that was about it.

She was a schoolteacher for many years and she had a knack of connecting with each student through that child's particular interests. She is unfailingly interested in whatever interests my brother and me, and she laughs at all my father's puns and jokes, even after 63 years of marriage. She always has some new thing to engage her four grandchildren, sometimes things as simple as the small wooden building blocks she played with as a child. My wife often comments on my mother's sense of style, wearing scarves or pins with flair. She is always reading a book and doing crossword puzzles and staying engaged.

If there were more people like my mother the world would be a better place. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. YOU'RE THE BEST. Love, Mike