Traditionally, this column would be about the world's most popular horse race, the Kentucky Derby.
It isn't.
Last week at the radio show on KABZ-FM, 103.7, The Buzz, a salesperson off the air said he loved to read the annual Mother's Day column.
Well, he was told, this year's Mother's Day column would be about the Kentucky Derby.
It isn't.
The Derby is an amazing event. Parties are held all over the world on the first Saturday in May to watch the best 3-year-olds in training test each other. More than 165,000 were packed into Churchill Downs, drinking overpriced drinks, eating overpriced food and waiting on the 12th and feature race on a day full of great racing.
If this was about Derby Day, Frank Fletcher would have been mentioned already. His horse, Rocket Time, started Derby Day by winning the first race.
Mom didn't watch the Kentucky Derby.
In advance of today, Mom was visited at Fox Ridge Assisted Living in Bryant, where the new owners are picking up where the old owners left off by keeping things painted and spruced up, but to be quite frank, Mom was not having a good day.
Mom has dementia, and that's a disorder that doesn't get better. There is no cure.
Safe and comfortable are the top priorities for the family, and Mom is safe, comfortable and for the most part happy. Oh, there are those days when she is ready to go back to the house she lived in for almost 50 years, but mostly she says, "I couldn't be in a better place."
On April 27, she turned 93. Most of the family gathered in the sunroom for birthday cake and punch, and a lesson was learned. Next year, I'll buy a bigger cake.
Where she lives, in a secure area of the facility, we had numerous visitors who probably won't remember being there but were very aware there was a party with cake and punch. Mom insisted on sharing with her friends, and we did until it was all gone.
When we ran out, one lady took my piece and ate it with my fork. It was adorable, and the calories won't be missed by yours truly.
All Mom wanted for her birthday was to hold her latest great-grandchildren, Evelyn and Shepherd, twins who turned 1 last week. When we posed for a family picture, Evie was on Mom's lap.
My mom was a good mom. Like so many who grew up in the Depression era, she and dad taught us to work hard, go to church, and that family was second only to God.
When we started moving things out of her house, we found 37 sets of sheets because she was afraid someone in the family might need sheets. They all came from Goodwill, her favorite department store.
Mom was/is a very intelligent woman who spoke her mind. These days, when she feels the need to talk and can't think of anything, she goes with her standby, "God goes before me." We hear it a lot.
Mom had a natural gift for musical instruments. There has not been anything created she couldn't play, and play it by ear.
She could hear Jerry Lee Lewis play something one time, walk over to the piano and play it perfectly. That gene skipped her kids, especially yours truly.
On a good day, Mom will make her way to the dining room where Fox Ridge has one of three pianos, and when she starts to play she attracts a good-sized crowd and the music fills the hallways. She wins prizes playing bingo.
On a bad day, she claims she never leaves her room and should go home.
The entire family is involved and dedicated to Mom. For us, she'll always be more important than the Kentucky Derby.
Sports on 05/08/2016