The Hundred Things I Like About My Mother - Happy Mother's Day to All the Mothers Everywhere

1. her soothing voice
2. her unbelievable patience
3. her amazing sense of humor
4. her scary stories like, "He's coming up the first step."
5. how much she loved my brother Jimmy, sister Mary, and me
6. that she survived a cruel Catholic orphanage, yet she remained kind
7. she always liked the underdog
8. she was a great cook, but sometimes made strange meals
9. she always had a nice Christmas tree for us each year
10. she made great Easter baskets
11. she bought us new clothes at Easter
12. she did without, so we could have stuff
13. she always brought home a giant Hershey's bar on Wednesdays when we watched the Walt Disney Show
14. she took us to White Castle and Candy Cane Lane
15. she took us to Riverview and China Town
16. she took us to look in the downtown windows at Christmas and Olson Rug
17. she let us pick out toys from the Montgomery Ward's Christmas book
18. she let me walk to school in kindergarten
19. she hid in the house to see what I would do when I came home from school
20. she took us on picnics
21. she took us to the Lincoln Park Zoo to see Bushman
22. she took us to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the U505 German submarine
23. she took us to the North Avenue Beach and told us to keep away from strange men
24. She sat with us in the car for hours while my dad was in a bar drinking
25. she played games with us
26. she read to us
27. she read to my kids
28. she watched my kids
29. she was very forgiving
30. she is in heaven very close to our Holy Mother Mary
31. she took us to Lake Zurich to picnic and swim
32. she wanted us to have a better life than she did
33. she was proud of me
34. she came to my graduations
35. she was not judgemental
36. she was not prejudice
37. she had beautiful blue eyes
38. she found a $50 bill and bought a dog and named him Lucky; she would take Lucky on long walks and once he got back in her house he would do his business and she never got mad
39. she bought me hotdogs at Scotties
40. she went for walks with me
41. she was always positive
42. she knew how to make her limited money last
43. she loved the Academy Awards
44. she loved to take me to the movies and we would watch more than one
45. she never complained
46. she kept the house clean
47. she told jokes
48. she bought me Mr. Peanut in the mail
49. she bought me a plate with two dogs on it that look like Dickens and Einstein
50. she let us have a lot of toys
51. she took me to the Humboldt Park Library to pick out books I never read
52. she tried to learn how to drive a car when she was retired
53. she worked so hard
54. she loved to get the mail, that became a big part of her day
55. she loved to sit at the window watch people moving in and out
56. she was nice to my father
57. she let me have my father be buried in Mississippi by his father
58. she took care of me when I was sick
59. she let us have a parakeet "Pretty Boy" when we were little
60. she cooked us chicken and French fries in a fry well
61. she had us move to Wrigleyville after our house was robbed
62. she liked popcorn and took us often to the Music Box on Southport
63. she gave us a lot of freedom
64. she loved her dog Lucky
65. she was kind to her brother Wally, and let him live with her even though he called her horrible names and he was a mean drunk
66. she was unselfish
67. she always made friends
68. she got me my first regular job at Jewel
69. she like Dickens and Einstein
70. she loved my kids Tommy and Jill.
71. she drove out to Grinell College to visit my daughter
72. she made things for me
73. she took me to the Salvation Army Church
74. she sent me to a YMCA camp
75. she sent me to the Moody Bible School
76. she made me homemade Halloween costumes
77. she didn't smoke or drink
78. she never hit me
79. she took me to the dentist
80. she took me to the doctor to get my ears cleaned out
81. she took me to a dermatologist when I started getting pimples
82. she cooked me food without using grease when I was trying not to get pimples
83. she smiled a lot
84. she taught me how to play solitaire
85. she taught me how to play war
86. she gave me her biscuit cutters
87. she bought me an American Flyer train
88. she is helping me now
89. she is helping my best friend
90. she has a great memory
91. just being in the same room with her is rewarding
92. she could sew, she was often in a wash dress, an apron with her hair pinned up - she turned grey very early
93. she got us sparklers and snakes for the 4th of July
94. she visited Robby in his nursing home
95. she helped Mary financially
96. she raised both of Mary's children
97. she bought me a Lionel train, a Milwaukee Road GP9
98. she would make a sandwich that had butter and sugar for us kids
99. she was nice to my friends
100. she is a saint and I wouldn't want any other mother