Here's a hooray for all the good moms out there

It is said that even the most hardened of criminals has a soft spot for his or her mother.  On this Mother's Day, if you are lucky enough to have your mother still alive, do something or say something, to say "thank you" if she did a good job being your mom.  Do not take that for granted, whatever your age, whatever her age.  

I say that because there are all sorts of mothers out there.  Unfortunately, I have seen the worst of them, and fortunately, I have seen the best of them.  

The worst of them comes from some of the DSS cases I have been appointed to.  Mothers who let their children be abused by the man in there lives because "they love him," mothers who love to get high more than provide for their children, and mothers who are well, just plain mean.  

It is easy to be cynical about motherhood when you see things like that, but in the vast majority of situations, there are the best of mothers  among us, like single mothers I know who work long hours to provide for their kids and still make time to be there for their kids.  Mothers like my own, who even though they had the support of a husband, made sacrifices for their children.  And, even though we are grown still have our backs.  

Richard Nixon was one of the most corrupted politicians in this nation's history.  Yet, in his last speech as President of the of the United States, minutes before he resigned that office in disgrace, he remarked, "my mother was a saint." 

Most of us who had the mother who cooked breakfast for us, saw us off to school, put the bandages on our cut knees, and stood by us when we messed up as kids and even as adults, feel the same way as Nixon.  A good mother is a saint. She not only gave birth to us, she puts up with us.  She always sees the good in us, sees how better we can be.  

Those good mothers come in all forms.  Some might be from a home with a husband and a two car garage.  Others might be single and work two jobs to give their kids a chance.  But, they are the same.  They love their children, even when we grow up and they always want the best for us.  

It is why men, especially men in the South, always have a weakness for mama.  A real mama, or mother to my yankee readers, loves you until the day she dies and keeps hoping you will do your best.  When you mess up, when you fail, your mama, if she is a good one, always is there.  She will give you fits about how wrong you are, but defend you to the world.  And, that is why we honor the good mothers so.  

Mama is always on your side.  It is a comforting thing.  And, yes, I think my mother is a saint in her own way, as I bet most of you do.  Happy Mother's Day to all the real mamas out there and thank you for all you do.  You make the world go around more than you know.