[PenultimateManStanding]

A teacher's aide told me about this today at work. He said that his daughter said to him, "As I get older, dad, you seem smarter and smarter." I know the feeling. I'm driving up the coast on Sunday to watch the Chargers play the Oakland Raiders with my dear old mom who is a few months shy of 80 years old. I was her worst enemy when I was 17, but now I hope she lives to be 120. She was the darling of Bing Crosby as a girl when her father was his gardener in Rancho Santa Fe. Crosby took her down to the racetrack at Del Mar and let her ride the horses around the track at full gallop. She's got a new bionic knee and is still sipping her bourbon in the evenings. She's calls me kiddo and says she's a rotten mom, but she's renegotiating the interest rates of the inheritance she wants to give to me.

[PenultimateManStanding]

My guess is none of you have learned to love your mothers. well that's your problem, isn't it? I've got a crazy old broad mom, and she's the best.

[basil_hayden]

It's gonna be a loooooong ride home, PMS.

Go Raiders!

And your point is well taken, only for me it's my Dad who's appearing to be the smartest person ever (and we used to really go at it in the teen years). Mom's health is impairing her ability to consume endlessly, she's disappointed.

That and the house is full to the rafters.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('basil_hayden', '
')Go Raiders!

And your point is well taken, only for me it's my Dad.

[basil_hayden]

I can't be disappointed, nothing to lose as my team has sucked for half a decade. Yours however has much to lose as long as Norv is around. But may the best team win and I'm jealous that you can just drive up the coast to see the Black Hole; I'll probably never make it there.

As far as realizing stuff as you get older, thank the stars for wisdom, I guess.

[jasonraymondson]

My mom was/is a crackwhore who until the day she left when I was 9 would beat me and put out ciggerette butts out on my body. So please excuse me if I don't love my mother.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', 'M')y mom was/is a crackwhore who until the day she left when I was 9 would beat me and put out ciggerette butts out on my body. So please excuse me if I don't love my mother.

[jasonraymondson]

That which does not kill me... will provide me horror stories for my children

[strider3700]

Now that I'm older I freely admit that my mother almost always was right.

Oh and Go Raiders!

[frankthetank]

Were you guys breast fed?

I wasn't and thought i was until just recently. It funny how it takes 30 years to find out things like that.

My mom is a very funny, very giving person, but wasn't really a "mom" growing up (hard to explain). I still see her a lot (more then the rest of my siblings) and get along with her fine, but still wish it could have been different growing up.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'W')ere you guys breast fed?

[Zardoz]

As I get older, I'm beginning to understand why my dad got more bitter, more disgusted, and more negative as he got older.

I always wondered what his problem was. I'm starting to get it now.

[WildRose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', ' ')

My mom is a very funny, very giving person, but wasn't really a "mom" growing up (hard to explain). I still see her a lot (more then the rest of my siblings) and get along with her fine, but still wish it could have been different growing up.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', 'I') had to get my own food and that was only possible when I was not padlocked in my room.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'M')y guess is none of you have learned to love your mothers. well that's your problem, isn't it? I've got a crazy old broad mom, and she's the best.

[jboogy]

That sucks Jason, you should be proud that you've been able to overcome this and turn into a relatively normal , stable person . Many who had beginnings such as yours have been unable to adapt to society later on . That fact that you've not only survived but apparently developed and evolved beyond most americans is a testament to who you are inside. I'm speaking about your interest and insight into a lot of things that the average american would find either incomprehensable or boring . The real test will be to see how you treat your kids , I have a feeling you'll do fine. I got no complaints about my MOM , loving and indulgent to a fault . That's the only complaint , I wish she had been more forceful in guiding me and my sister down the right path while teenagers , although I'm thankful for all the kickass memories of those years , I just wish I could get all those lost brain cells back.Our stepfather during those formative years was an asshole and proved no match for me and my sister , after many years of psychological battle we eventually drove him out . Try to make me call when I won't be coming home will ya' ? Give me shit about drinking your booze ?Go to school EVERY day ? Don't smoke weed in the house ? Funny thing is I'm strict like that with my teens but I'm their real father and I'm also very loving and supportive of them. Stepfathers are at such a disadvantage from start , you gotta hand it to them for even trying.

[Pops]

My Mom had a horse named Billy when she was little.
Ventured from OK/MO to CA at around 14 years to cut apricots for a few cents a day and wrote a little journal on a discarded diary.
Did some things during WWII that she didn’t talk about.
Liked Bushmills.
Made pottery, oil paintings and collected antiques, none of which were very good.
Had long legs and ran to the bus stop with me when I was in 4th grade in the same awkward way as a too-tall adolescent.
Told me once that my arms reminded her of her first childhood crush.
Wrapped some birthday and Christmas presents in newspaper and kept her cash between pages of books on shelves where she could rarely find it.
Said Blood Was Thicker Than Water and Can’t Never Did Anything.
Packed her own pistol when we went to look for my sister who was last seen hanging out with a bad fellow.
Liked butterflies.


She died in her early sixties when I was in my early thirties.



As usual PMS, I know that wasn’t the topic at hand…

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'M')y guess is none of you have learned to love your mothers. well that's your problem, isn't it? I've got a crazy old broad mom, and she's the best.

[WildRose]

I love my parents. They're really decent, caring people, salt of the earth. Over the years, I've come to know their shortcomings but it doesn't matter as I have at least as many as they have. As a teen, I heard, "I hope when you grow up you have a daughter just like you" a lot. I could be a real shit-disturber. Hey, I can still do that. But now, I'm mostly just very thankful for every family get-together we have with everyone there, each at their chair around the table.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jasonraymondson', 'I') had to get my own food and that was only possible when I was not padlocked in my room.