Friday Funday: Wisdom And Mothers

If it's a day that ends in "y" in an election year, around our offices, it's also a day where new political stories are popping up. And even though there's yet another gaffe from Mitt Romney that calls into question his character and personal history, and a drug recall in Nebraska which effectively leaves the state without a way to enforce the death penalty, neither of those stories are subjects we're going to focus on today.

Today begins a celebratory weekend of sorts, for our staff, and we're sure for many of you.

To start with, it's Mother's Day weekend. So... to all our mothers, all the mothers who are reading this, and to Amy, our own staff mother, we say 'Happy Mother's Day.' If you haven't gotten your own Mom - or your mother in law - a gift or card, at least call her this weekend. Even if she's passed away, just whisper a quiet thanks to her. Seriously; without your Mom, you wouldn't be reading this right now.

Today also begins a celebration of Spring, as the folks we know at the UNL Dairy Store in Lincoln are hosting another edition of P.O. Pears 'Burger Madness'. When they can be sure the weather is nice enough, the folks at the Dairy Store celebrate, and use some great Nebraska beef and UNL cheese, to cook up one of our all-time favorite meals in a jiffy. If you have the chance, and are in Lincoln today, we highly recommend you join the spring celebration, and head to the Dairy Store on East Campus for lunch, outdoors. Don't forget to get dessert too!

Of course, we'd also be completely remiss if we didn't wish our staff member Shawn a very happy birthday this weekend. As he's jokingly told us, he'll take any gift anyone wishes to send him, whether those gifts are in cash, check, or credit form. We told him we'd buy him a burger for a gift, and throw in a few pennies for every year of his age.

Lately, everyone on our staff is noticing that Father Time seems to be tossing us all more than pennies, in the form of a bit more wisdom, even as he's also giving us a few more aches, creaks, and pains to go with his timely gift.

Planting the spring flowers was a bit harder this year, true. But the look on the face of Amy's daughter, when she got to play in the rain recently, was magical. We have been incredibly proud of some graduates in our extended family this month too - though we keep asking each other, with a smile, "Didn't that one just start college a few years ago?"

It's with happiness that we mention these unpackaged gifts that age has been blessing us with lately, even as we think back to when we were younger, and Mother's Day was simply a day when we might bring our Moms some flowers we'd just plucked from the field down the road. We remember the looks that our moms gave us, as they hoped we'd grow to be men and women they could be proud of.

We're not exactly sure they meant for us to be a cartoonist, or a radio producer, or a language translator, or members of the media. But we're pretty sure they'd be proud of us for being good citizens, good mentors, and good friends - to you and to each other. We're also fairly sure they'd be glad we share with you the humor of Paul's cartoons, along with the wisdom of experience in politics and the news we deliver every weekday.

That kind of humor and wisdom may not exactly be the type of gift you can plant in the garden, or save like a favorite Mother's Day card, but we're pretty sure it's exactly the kind of gift that our Moms would want for us - and hopefully for you, too.

Do good this weekend. Take time - for yourself, and others. Enjoy your life. Find a reason - and celebrate it. Tell the people closest to you that you love them. Have fun. Eat something good.

And last, but not least, no matter where your mother is, thank her.

Happy Mother's Day weekend.