A Tribute to My Mom

My mother, Betty Waldron, passed away earlier this week at the age of 87. I wanted to honor her this week by sharing a story from my childhood that shows what kind of woman and mother she was. I love you, Mom.

I was in junior high and somehow got placed in an honors geography class. These students were the 30 best and brightest in our school and the bar in that class was raised to a much higher level than I was used to. Naturally, I struggled for the first two semesters, barely getting by with a C- average. Then I found out that the grade for the final semester would be based solely on a huge term paper. That night I told my mother that I had never written a paper like this and would surely fail. She said not to worry, that she would help me with it.

For the next two months my mother spent two hours a night working with me on this project, after working full-time all day as a telephone operator and cooking dinner for seven people. This was the pre-computer era, so I had to do all the research, writing, and design by hand. After I had a final draft ready, my mother carefully rewrote the entire thing (all 30 pages) in her impeccably neat handwriting.

When my paper was handed back I got the shock of a lifetime – 300 out of a possible 300 points. It was the highest grade in the class and it helped boost my grade to a B. Talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse! When I told my mom about the amazing result, she said she wasn’t surprised because she had known all along I had the ability to do this, and do it well.

Quite a lesson. Not only could I compete well on the athletic fields, but for the first time I also felt like I could compete in the classroom. All thanks to my mom’s extreme dedication and belief in me.

It would be difficult for me to put into words the love I feel for her and all that I owe her. So I’ll let the sensational R&B group Boyz II Men do it for me with their hit song, “A Song for Mama.”

Boyz II Men, \”A Song For Mama\” (From YouTube)

Have a great weekend,

Ro