Happy Birthday To A Mom Of Many

As an only child, I am technically the only person that can call Shirley my mother. But having taught grade school for more than 40 years, giving nearly all of her free time to charity, and being the oldest of 16 siblings, there are way more people who call her "mom" than I'll ever know.

Over the years I've met many who have been impacted by Shirley Mae. Whether it's from her time volunteering with church missions in West Virginia, reading to the blind on the radio, or giving you the latest on what currently IS and ISN'T good for you, even if you don't want a health tip. Which reminds me, she said I need to stop drinking out of anything that isn't glass, only cook with a cast-iron skillet and move back from the TV. There's radiation.

Former students consider 'Mrs. C' their second mom and have fond memories of her Christmas musicals, Pioneer Days and other "Shirley Mae Productions." Her siblings think of Shirl as Mom #2, not only because she looks just like Grandma Rose, but also because she just shows up at your house and starts cleaning.

Because mom's mind is always thinking about what needs to get done for other people, she's a little absentminded. Like when she can't find her sunglasses and they're on her head. Or when she pushed an entire cart of groceries out of the store into the parking lot, then just got in the car and drove home without them. And the one time she gave my cousin a ride home from school and dropped him off at the wrong house.

Watch this classic moment when I discovered how mom "photoshopped" a framed picture:

Everyone says they have the Greatest Mom in the World. When I say it, it's the truth.

Happy Birthday, Mom. From your only child...and all your other kids.