Thanks Mom!
Today, social media is filled with expressions of appreciation for all that our Moms do for us.  It is kinda cool to see and know that there are millions of other 'best mom evers' out there going to bed hungry as the real MVP (to paraphrase NBA MVP Kevin Durant).

What seems like a lifetime ago, in only my second year in Akron, my parents came to visit Julie and I at 162 and one of my favorite pictures resulted.  Brian gave me that sweatshirt for either my birthday or Father's Day and it was his favorite sweatshirt.  It became my favorite for years, until it was retired.  My Dad is wearing a T from where I had only just (barely) completed my doctorate.  My Mom looks happy in my Dad's arms, relaxed and content when confronted with any evidence that one of us doing well.  Three happy faces too.  To get the sense that I brought a smile like this to my Mom's face is like winning the lottery.

Then there is this picture from on top of the Guiness Brewery in Dublin.  Mom does not drink hardly at all and is not much for travelling either...so the fact that she joined us for the trip and had a sip of my Guiness...priceless!

Then, as if the universe was not good enough to me, I had the chance to watch Julie mother and the learn parenting from and with her.  Which has been part of learning a lot more about all that matters in life, about myself and our world.  Thanks Mom and Julie...all my love, Bill