To Our Readers:
Mother’s Day is always a terrific day to well, just spend time with my sons. Just hang out together – in the backyard with the dogs, at Monmouth Park, on a golf course. Unfortunately for a long time my oldest, Bart, has been living in the south of France. He lives a very civilized life and I’m thrilled he has a red tile-roofed apartment in an ancient Roman walking city nestled just minutes from the Mediterranean. The largest Place de la Comedie and the oldest carousel in all of Europe doesn’t hurt much either. But, I miss him. He’s happy and has a loving partner so ultimately, that’s what a mother wants for her children. It’s all good. And I’ll get to see him this fall when he comes home for my younger son Shane’s wedding in October. If you look on our Celebrations page this week, you will see Shane’s photo with the love of his life, Kate Judd, who he met while they were both in law school. My son is more than smitten and that goofy grin that’s on his face more than not is the first clue. Kate hails from Westfield, is a killer cook, and Shane from Tinton Falls. Beyond law they share the love of the Giants, dogs, kids, the beach, a sense of humor and a crazy show “How I Met Your Mother” which has something to do with the Yellow umbrella he proposed under. She’s a lovely gal from a really warm, intelligent and wicked funny family. So, I am so very happy for them both and think they are lucky to have found each other. I so look forward to dancing with my son at his wedding. When I ran into some health glitches a few years back, that was the Big Ask of God and thankfully, it came true.
Every day I think of funny, tragic and scary days in my sons’ lives, but Mother’s Day probably more than most. Disney World a zillion times, sleeping under the Christmas tree, feeding fish to Pelicans, boating, the first day we put in the pool, the pony for a 4th birthday present, traveling up and down the east and west coast, New Hampshire and Maine, teaching them how to play golf, the first Communion and Confirmation, all my extended sons, getting to the soccer field just in time after a 36- hour trip from Kuala Lumpur, the PTA, being a drama mama, a soccer mom and a varsity football booster who handed out Gatorade after each game, the egg hunts, dragging the younger one from Borneo, to the Galapagos Islands to Western Samoa and lots in between, the many occasions spent at Monmouth Park, the family holidays, the tears after dropping them each off at college and the joy of button-popping graduations. Then there were all those terrifying trips to the ER, the crushed leg on the ski slopes and sleeping in a chair for weeks, explaining why someone they loved would no longer be a part of their daily life but alive in their hearts.
I wasn’t the cookie-baking mom with an apron. Far from it. But I was at every game, play and important event in their lives. And I have always told them that as a journalist, I wouldn’t leave them millions but I did change the world for the better. That’s the legacy I leave my sons. And I hope they too leave the world a better place than they found it.
But just who would have I have tried to make the world a better place for if not my sons? I’m so proud of them and thank them for the joy and meaning they give my life. They made my life whole and will always make my heart pop!
Let’s Have Coffee!
Jody Calendar
jcalendar@tworivertimes.com
732-219-5788
