It’s Mother’s Day and we’ll be making the drive back to Virginia today. We don’t have any kids but we do have Carter the wonder dog! He didn’t come out with us on the quick trip. Instead, he’s spending the weekend with our friends at home – the Judds. It’s always odd when he’s not with us though – such a part of the routine of our day. And when we’re on the road, he has a favorite toy on show days – a fake hand. He’s pretty much chewed off the finger tips but he carries it around and shows it to everyone in the theatre.
Cindy is the very special woman in my life and, on this Mother’s Day, I hope she realizes just how much I love her – for so many reasons! I say this almost every night from stage but she is an amazing woman, not for all the incredible things she does in the show but because of all the incredible things she is as a person! I am the luckiest guy in the world to have her in my life.
As for my Mom, she is one of the most inspiring people I know. Both of my parents are people of great faith in God and it shows in every facet of their lives. We had a bit of a scare this Mother’s Day weekend and I’m sure my Mom won’t mind if I share this. During a routine physical exam, it was discovered that she had a “tumor” on one of her kidneys. He doctors moved quickly to get a CAT scan so they could explore this further but they were fairly confident that it was cancer. While we were driving to Dover on Friday, my Dad called me on my cell phone to let me know what was going on. My Mom had not yet had the CAT Scan but they would let us know the results as soon as they knew something. When I spoke with my Mom to see how she was doing, she was strong and focused on her faith. She encouraged ME not to worry because God was very aware of her situation and whatever the diagnosis, He was still God. I was touched by her strength but more significantly, I was impressed with the consistency of her trust. It’s easy to trust God when things are going well, when life is good. It’s much more difficult to trust God when things start to turn ugly and the potential for challenges is very real. But my Mom – my parents – are an excellent example of what it means to trust God in the good times AND the not so good times.
As it goes, I received the call on Friday night with the results of the scan. The tumor was not cancer, only a cyst. I could sense the relief in their words but knew that, whatever the outcome, their faith would have carried them through.
Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and my wife, Cindy! I love you both very much!