Other Mothers' Days

One Mother's Day when my son was elementary school, I spent Mothers' Day morning with him in the parking lot of the medical center, waiting for the doctor to arrive. My son had an ear infection. It was not serious, but he needed an antibiotic. But what seemed like a boring wait in the car turned out to have unexpected consequences. The next day, the police phoned and asked if I'd been at the medical center on Sunday morning. "Yes," I said.

It turned out that while we'd been sitting in the car, the medical center had been robbed of drugs. The police looked at all the appointment books to find people who might have seen the robbery, and although I hadn't realized it at the time, we had been witnesses. I recalled a beat-up car driving away from the medical center at a high speed and was able to give a partial description. I don't know one make of car from another, and thought my son might know, but he was too shy to talk with the police. The police asked if I was willing to be hypnotized to see if I could recall a license number or more details. That sounded like an interesting experience, and I agreed. But I never heard anything more about the case. It only remains in my mind as a memorable Mothers' Day.

The second memorable Mothers' Day was one I spent all alone. The kids were grown up by then, and I was in Cincinnati by myself, doing some genealogical research. I got up on Sunday morning, had breakfast in the hotel, then went to church where I heard the Bishop preach. After a nice lunch, I walked over to Riverfront Stadium and watched a baseball game. Several dad's with young children were sitting nearby, obviously giving Mom a day off at home. The guys were interested in the game, but one poor little girl had no idea what was going on and didn't know what to do with herself. So I talked with her and pointed out things she could look for on the playing field. That helped, but I faulted her dad for not paying more attention to her and helping her understand the game.