Can't let the day pass...

...without a nod to Mom. I worked a long shift today, but the Brilliant and Beautiful Bride of Upper Left and I managed to drop off a card and some posies before I went in. It was the first time in years my Mom has been close enough to visit on Mother's Day, a treat for both of us, I think.

Mom left school in the eigth grade and went to work in the shipyards as a welder. She became an autodidact, reading everything that crossed her path, and she passed that love of the word along to me, teaching me to read before I started kindergarten.

She also passed along her faith in the Democratic Party as the best hope for working people and her practice of voting the straight party ticket. One of the reasons I sorry about the advent of universal vote by mail elections is that some of my fondest childhood memories are of the days Mom walked to school with us and went into the gym to close the curtain and proudly cast her ballot.

She's still plugging away at 85. It's a blessing that I'm grateful for every day, as I'm grateful for having the chance to give her a long overdue Mother's Day smooch this morning.