Towards the end of April 2001, I emailed mom a link to a fake news story at Über.nu titled Local Man Dies of Everything His Mother Ever Worried About.

She replied a few days later with:

 

Verrrrrry Funnnny!

Apparently, he didn’t actually listen to his mother. See what you have avoided over the years!!!

Love ya

 

It was such a simple little exchange. I remember laughing when reading the article and thinking that it sounded just like her. Now that I have my own son I cannot imagine how traumatic it must have been to be her when I was a teenager; I was constantly in the emergency room or detention or coming home three hours after she expected.

One thing I will say about mom: I was one of the few kids I knew that never had a “curfew”. She trusted me to keep her posted and not to lie about where I was, and I rarely did. She was always watching TV on the couch when I’d come home, though, no matter how late.