"Moms Are Good"

So I’ve been taking a blog break for real life but I'm getting back to New York now. Today’s cheerfulness comes because I was able to return from North Carolina breathing a sigh of relief. My mom had unexpected open heart surgery about two weeks ago and she’s doing remarkably well. It seems icky blogging about family health issues but I’ll just say she’s well on the road to recovery, which is the best news possible. As one colleague of mine said when I told him to cover my work, “Moms are more important. Moms are good.” Amen to that.

In addition to being a tough lady, she’s also popular. It seemed like mom & dad’s house was filled with flowers, cards and several casseroles a day thanks to her golf buddies, gin rummy partners, neighbors, church friends, knitting partners, old friends from Winston Salem, Stitch & Bitch ladies, my aunts and cousins and so on and on and on and on. I’m endlessly amazed that Southern women seem to have never met an animal, vegetable or fruit that couldn’t be enhanced with the addition of some combination of Ritz crackers, butter, cheese and/or cream of chicken soup. Seriously -- someone brought a casserole comprised of pineapple, Ritz crackers, butter and cheese. I generally think that pineapple is amazingly delicious on its own -- foodie friends look away now -- yet this concoction actually tasted pretty good. So did the frozen tub of Cool Whip and cherry pie filling. Just re-reading that makes my insides hurt. Now I’m determined to eat nothing but miso soup for a few days.

Anyway, thanks to my friends and mom’s friends for all the well wishes. Mom if you’re reading this get off the computer and go rest and watch your Netflix DVDs!