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24070. magoseph - 5/11/2008 12:45:01 PM nytimes--Call Your Mother
Whenever I’ve had the honor of giving a college graduation speech, I always try to end it with this story about the legendary University of Alabama football coach, Bear Bryant. Late in his career, after his mother had died, South Central Bell Telephone Company asked Bear Bryant to do a TV commercial. As best I can piece together, the commercial was supposed to be very simple — just a little music and Coach Bryant saying in his tough voice: “Have you called your mama today?”
On the day of the filming, though, he decided to ad-lib something. He reportedly looked into the camera and said: “Have you called your mama today? I sure wish I could call mine.” That was how the commercial ran, and it got a huge response from audiences.
So on this Mother’s Day, if you take one thing away from this column, take this: Call your mother.
I sure wish I could call mine. 24071. thoughtful - 5/11/2008 3:39:24 PM Happy Mom's day to all the mothers out there.
J@h, I love parrish! They had a show of one of largest collections of his art at the brooklyn museum several years back and I was in 7th heaven. To see his stuff up close and personal is such a treat. And his stuff is all over the place. There's one I found in CT, another in FL and even one in a hotel I stayed at in DC. Always a treat. 24072. alistairconnor - 5/11/2008 5:51:06 PM I'm making pizzas for my daughter's first "boum", or teenage party. She's actually only turning 11 this week, but she's well ahead in school so most of her friends are 13 or so.
Her elder sister, 14, is MC and DJ. I'm just staying out of the way.
It was a great excuse to clear out the barn, which is a great party room, and has been accumulating junk for a couple of years. I took at least a dozen full trash bags of the kids' old clothes away to be recycled. And shed a few tears over them. 24073. arkymalarky - 5/11/2008 6:17:13 PM Awwww. I still haven't cleared Mose's stuff out from when she moved out, and she's 23. It's on my to-do list--I tried to put it on hers, but that hasn't worked too well. 24074. Ms. No - 5/11/2008 6:17:42 PM Happy Mother's Day, Moties! 24075. judithathome - 5/12/2008 7:06:46 AM Keoni bought me...well, US...a new monitor today and it's huge...which makes the Mote take up about half the screen, for some reason.
It was really weird. I turned on the computer and it made this strange crackling sound and the screen looked like it was being eaten by something inside. Then, this acrid smell and poof...no monitor.
Now we have a slick new flat-screen one. Everything looks so bright.
Leslie brought me a varigated tea rose bush this morning. Can't wait for the blooms! 24076. judithathome - 5/13/2008 1:20:04 PM Off to DAlals today to meet with the neurosurgeon for the 4 week follow-up on my kid's head. 24077. magoseph - 5/13/2008 1:53:30 PM Good luck and keep on posting at your return, please.
24078. judithathome - 5/13/2008 9:57:32 PM Gads, I mangled Dallas....
The neurosurgeon said today that it looks like the artery is closing up again in Leslie's brain (causing the TIA he had last week) and so, a week from tomorrow we go back to the hospital and do it again, only this time he will put in a stent.
So bummed about this news...
24079. arkymalarky - 5/13/2008 10:34:07 PM I'm sorry, Judith. 24080. thoughtful - 5/13/2008 10:43:35 PM I'm sorry to hear that, but at least he's been down this road before and the doc has been down it with him, so it's familiar territory. The stent will most likely do the trick.
Stay strong. 24081. alistairconnor - 5/14/2008 4:57:50 PM Hell that's rough, Judith. I hope he'll be OK. 24082. iiibbb - 5/14/2008 6:22:27 PM Good luck J@H 24083. judithathome - 5/15/2008 9:32:23 PM The doctor himself called Leslie yesterday and said he had presented this case to a board of national and international neurosurgeons and that the consensus is to forego the stent (odd angle that might tear the artery) and go with the cranial arterial bypass.
So send good thoughts our way next Thursday...this, to me, is a much more serious surgery and by far, a much longer recuperative time. He will need to go straight from the hospital to a rehabilation facility, hopefully the one here in town where they know him and did such good work with him last year.
24084. wonkers2 - 5/15/2008 10:43:16 PM We're keeping our fingers crossed. 24085. thoughtful - 5/16/2008 1:36:54 PM Wow. Best wishes to you and Leslie. The good news is these guys are obviously being very careful and are doing their very best for him. 24086. judithathome - 5/16/2008 3:14:53 PM well, he got quite boost yesterday when he was finally able to get in contact with his pediatric oncologist...she's retired now and living on a ranch about 50 miles from here. He said she was almost speechless when she she heard him tell her who he was...and she wants to come into town and have lunch with both of us.
This is a woman whom I credit with saving Leslie's life (she administered his chemo) but most important, with saving his sanity...she would sit with him for hours and tell him how much he was going to accomplish and achieve as a grown man.
Clearly she is still a wonderful woman...and I'm certain with the field she was in, she doesn't have many patients who made it so she was doubly surprised to hear from him. 24087. judithathome - 5/16/2008 7:44:56 PM Oh god...everything has changed and the surgery has been moved up a day...to Wednesday. This has engendered all sorts of schedule changes for both me AND Keoni as he just got done moving things around for Thursday. It's looking as though I will be there for it alone for most of Wednesday since Keoni has to go out of town for two appointments but will be back that afternoon.
I think the cranial surgery lasts about 6 hours. Luckily, I got two really hard crossword puzzle books this weekend. And have a good book to take along.
This is actually much better because his surgeon is leaving the country for a conference on Friday...his assoiciates were going to do the follow-up after the Thursday surgery and evidently, he arranged it to do the surgery on Wednesday so he could be there the next day instead. This doctor is amazing. And he and Leslie have such a connection...it's a delight to see.
Yes, my son has been so fortunate to have absolutely superb doctors. 24088. wonkers2 - 5/16/2008 8:28:58 PM A pint of Jack Daniels or Jose Cuervo might be helpful as well. Good luck! 24089. arkymalarky - 5/16/2008 10:28:40 PM Wow, good luck to all of you, Judith.
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