Thanks, mom!

When you are in a park or wildlife area, you hopefully had previously learned to NEVER come between momma bear and her cubs. This is true with most wildlife. Moose, deer, coyotes, big cats, and more. It is an instinct, from deep within, that momma will come ~ full force ~ to the aid of her children, even to her own demise. The same is true with the wildlife known as humans!

My mom was mother to myself and six brothers. She was also the mom to the hoards of children who happened to quasi-live at our house. She was, to the naked, untrained eye, the sweetest little woman ever. She would give you the shirt off her back, the last bit of food from her table, her final little nickel if you needed it. But . . . do NOT mess with her children! She learned through the years that physical violence took its toll on everyone ~ including her, so she began a mental warfare when needed. Slowly and steadily she made 'em pay . . . and pay . . . and pay! It was beautiful!

When my kids were little and we lived in Safety Harbor there was a crazy family that lived in our cul-de-sac. The kids were always running wild, half dressed, undisciplined, and very mean. One day, as my daughter was trying to learn how to ride a bike, these kids kept doing drive-by's and cutting her off and teasing her and whacking her helmet while racing past her. She tried to be nice. She tried to ignore them. Then momma bear came out!

I stood next to my daughter as if to assist her in her endeavors. When the eldest of the loony children came racing by us, probably two years my daughter's senior, I turned from Deanna and grabbed this little girl's bike ~ with her on it. I picked her up completely off the ground, turned her around to face her home, told her to go there and not to #$*$# with my kid again. She was gone without a second's hesitation with a look of total bewilderment, never to bother my Deanna again. I turned back around and very happily assisted Deanna in her bike-riding efforts.

I too, like my mom, learned the dangers of putting myself in those situations. So, when kids were unfathomably cruel to my son about his weight gain while he was on steroids, instead of heading to the playground to pummel some pipsqueaks, I wrote a series of books. This was a much more productive outcome and I had all kinds of fun. The liberties available to a writer are astounding. Naming characters, for example, can have far more meaning than one might think. Ahhh, sweet victory.

For all the lessons you taught me; for the fight that you instilled within me and the intelligence with which to use it . . . Thanks, mom!