
 |
|
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
May 4, 2009
/ 10 Iyar 5769
Not just somebody else's mother
By
Mitch Albom
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I went to a funeral this past week. My friend's mom. She was a sweet woman who never came to your house empty-handed, who always had a smile, and who couldn't help but ask me, in private, if her son, my friend, was ever going to get married.
At the funeral service, and later, at the home, I saw photo albums of her when she was younger and her son was a boy, which meant I was a boy, too. And I got a little misty. I realized there are all these categories of people in our lives: parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, friends, colleagues.
And then there's your friend's mom.
Over the years, your friend's mom might carpool you to Little League. Your friend's mom might tuck you in when you sleep over. Your friend's mom might make a certain spaghetti or chocolate chip cookie better than your mom does something you will never tell your mom, but the minute you get in your friend's house you start salivating.
Your friend's mom might bandage your knee if you skinned it in their driveway. Your friend's mom will give you a bowl of ice cream when she's giving one to your friend, and yours might even have a little more in it.
Your friend's mom might point out your good behavior and say to her child, "Why can't you be polite like that?" But if you act up or misbehave, your friend's mom will get your mom on the phone and that's the end of that.
SHE'S THERE FOR ALL THE BIG EVENTS
Your friend's mom, as you get older, may appear kinder than your mom, or funnier, or prettier, or just newer. She might dance when your mom doesn't. She might wear her hair down, when yours wears hers up. When your own parents seem to be badgering you through adolescence, your friend's mom might seem like an oasis of understanding. She'll listen. She'll nod. But at some point, she'll say, "You really should talk with your mother about this."
Your friend's mom knows her place.
Your friend's mom will cheer for you at a baseball game, same as her own child. She'll root for you to get into college, she'll hug you at your graduation, she'll say she remembers you when you were "this high."
When you marry, your friend's mom will be invited, and when your friend marries, you'll hug your friend's mom and say, "Can you believe it?"
When your friend's mom grows ill, you'll get a call. And when she dies, you'll feel sympathy and grief at the same time.
A LITTLE PIECE OF ALL OF US
It seems now I have seen too many of my friends' moms pass on. The kid next door. His mom died of cancer. The drummer in our garage band. His mom died of cancer. My college roommate. His mom died of cancer. My good pal here in Michigan. His mom died of cancer. Her name was Dorothy Mills. She was buried this past week.
A small news story ran as an obituary. It said in addition to raising her three sons, she was a nurse's aide during World War II and worked for racial tolerance during the 1960s and '70s. I never knew that. You see your friends' moms through a filter of sweetness and hugs and cookies, a link in your chain of affection. You can forget they have lives, careers, accomplishments, dreams.
I've been lucky to know my friends' moms, and with every funeral, I hold my own mother more dearly, and maybe my friends do, too. The fact is, we're all in this together, being parents and being children. And often, when your friend's mom dies, you lose a little of a friend and a little of a mom as well.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
MITCH'S LATEST
"For One More Day"
"For One More Day" is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one? Sales help fund JWR.
|
Comment on Mitch's column by clicking here.
Mitch's Archives
© 2009, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
DISTRIBUTED BY TMS, INC.
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|