The most important profession in the world is parenting. Parents are the first coaches a child has. Mine were wonderful.
You know about my dad. Let me tell you a bit about my mom.
My mother, Roxie Anna, worked hard, long hours canning, cooking, sewing, mending, washing-it never ended. She had four sons and few conveniences, not even electricity or inside plumbing.
I've often felt badly that I haven't spoken of her more often over the years. She made sure we were up for Sunday School and was a wonderful mother. In the evenings when we were resting on the porch, she would be making us treats.
Mother was an accomplished seamstress and did a lot of that kind of thing for others around town. She made most of her clothes- very few store-bought items hung in her closet. She made me my first basketball out of rags stuffed into old black cotton hose. As I think back, I swear I remember dribbling that thing. That is impossible, but I like to think I could have.
Mother was a woman of infinite patience, who worked very hard and never complained. She taught me that hard work is a part of life.
Life's most difficult burden for my mom was the loss of her two daughters, my sisters. Cordelia was three when she died of diphtheria. Another daughter died in infancy before she was named.
Mom wanted a daughter desperately, and those two events hurt her more than anything else life threw at her. She carried a sense of loss on her shoulders forever.
All four of us boys were excellent students and if one of us got recognition for something, Mother was always careful to let people know something wonderful about the other three. She made sure that there was equality among us.
