Given the gravity of the game tonight, I thought about making this post “Why I love the Zags.”  I wanted to save this post for Mother’s Day or her birthday or something.  But I’m going to be honest – I think NCAA championship Monday is more important to my mom than Mother’s Day, so it’s only fitting.  I mean, her and my dad’s relationship song *is* One Shining Moment.

(And, if the Zags win tonight, you can bet what my next post will be).

I’ve had a heck of a busy two weeks, and only 5 hours at work left until I need to go save a spot to watch the game with my Zag buddies, so I’m going to do this bullet style.

• Not many people get to say this, so I think it’s worth noting : My mom taught me how to play sports (except rock climbing, which I’ll get to when I talk about my pops in a future post I’m sure!).
  • To wit: I was recently on a flight talking about how I loved March Madness and basketball and the guy asked me if my dad taught me how to play, and I can’t really explain how surprised he was when I said, “Oh, no, my mom did.”  It was awesome.
• She is always open to new adventures…
  • With the help of my dad, she introduced 4 kids under the age of 10 to Europe (a daunting task, I realized in hindsight) and forever changed our hobbies and interests for the better.
• …But she also loves routine, especially morning ones.
  • Give her a cup of Nespresso and her iPad at the kitchen island and she’ll be happy for hours
• Speaking of mornings, my mom taught me to love breakfast. I’ve added a few things to the repertoire (e.g., buckwheat pancakes), but the go to recipes (ratios) were given to me at an early age (oatmeal, grits, fried eggs).
• She’s honing a wicked golf game at 56 that inspires even the casual golfer.
  • She even got a hole-in-one last year, every golfer’s dream!!
• She’s a passionate sports fan, but not a crazy one.
  • You know the Raiders moms who paint their faces on Sunday and embarrass their kids? Not her.
  • The mom who cries when the kid hits the game winning shot because they cut to the proud parents in the crowd? That’s my mom.
  • The mom who won’t let you make fun of the college kid who misses the game winning field goal because “he has a mom too?” You guessed it.
• If it’s important to her kids, it’s important to her.
  • The actual biggest dilemma my mom faces on a monthly basis is when the teams of two of her children’s alma maters face off in a sporting event (e.g., Arizona vs. UW football, or Arizona vs. Gonzaga bball)
• She still follows the news from Pullman – love that hometown pride.
• I’m turning more and more into her every day…breakfasts, phrases, habits, and our styles are not similar so much as we actually own identical items of clothing that we bought independently (see polo below for an example)
  • I can only hope to be half the mom she is one day 🙂
• My mom was and is my biggest fan.
  • I wouldn’t be where I am today without hundreds of hours of driving to and from soccer and basketball tournaments, academic priorities, stick shift lessons, days spent at the driving range, ACL recovery help, daily texts, weekly phone calls, and repeated encouragement to follow my dreams.

There’s certainly a sports theme to these bullet points, which is probably a function of my inability to focus on anything except the basketball final tonight, and also because that’s a primary way my mom has shown her to love to me and my siblings (and my friends) over the years.

I was so thankful that, in addition to celebrating Kyle’s graduation, we got to watch the semifinal basketball games this past weekend in Seattle together as a family, and I know my mom, my sister, and I will all be shedding a few tears tonight as “The ball is tipped…”

“My children may not have everything they want in life, but they have a mom who loves them more than anything in the world.” – Unknown

Palouse Ridge Golf Course, 2013