Mom's Influence On Pottstown

I first posted the following earlier this year on my birthday. Today, it seems especially fitting to share.

For those who can celebrate Mother's Day with Mom, embrace every moment. For others, like me, who aren't as fortunate, share the memories. 

•••

“Be patient.”

“Be prepared.”

“Don’t wait until the last minute.”

My mother spent two decades trying to teach me those albeit seemingly worthy values. 

Today, most folks, many you’d least expect, hunger for fast and now. Even those who preach Mom’s message.

“In situations that are difficult and challenging, patience helps maintain your (willpower) and can sustain you.” Know who said that? The Dalai Lama, ON TWITTER!

As much as she’d stick to her guns on the patience thing, deep down, Mom would love Twitter. As a U.S. Army veteran who specialized in computers, she’d be impressed with today's technology as an effective, fast communication tool. And I'd bet she'd be better, more savvy and funnier than I at using it.

She’d be astounded at the growth of information in fields such as research, science and medicine.

Sadly, such technology wasn’t around to help Mom, in her mid-50s, with a then new, mysterious diagnosis of colon cancer. 

Hard for me to believe but that was 25 years ago. Despite her lifetime of patience and planning for the future, the disease rapidly overtook and killed her.

No amount of planning would have prepared me for that. 

I miss her -- especially today. 

Some folks say we have too much information at our fingertips and warn us to slow down, wait for life to play out.

I ask, “Why? If you don’t live in the moment, what are you waiting for?" 

Losing Mom to a deadly disease taught me to rethink the future and brainpower that can change things for the better.

So, in memory of my mother, I celebrate a future that can help other moms.

Here's to new technology that can help save mothers from deadly diseases.

Here's to technology that unites mothers with their kids who can't share this day in the same place at the same time.

And here's to Pottstown community leaders who recognize the impact their mother made:

Levi S. Wolf, managing shareholder of Wolf, Baldwin & Associates, P.C., said his mother taught him to treat others with respect.

• "My mother did not give me direct advice so much as teach me by example," he said via email. "She has always led the way with hard work, diligence, and giving good service to her employees and clients. I strive to live up to her example."

O’Donnell, Weiss & Mattei, P.C. Attorney Kathleen Martin -- certified as an elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court -- said her mother influenced her communication skills.

• "She taught me good grammar, and how to politely and effectively get my point across when writing," Martin said via email. "I use this information every day."

That said, credit should be acknowledged today:

Thanks, Mom. :)