Moms and Boats

When I started to work on the Whitehall rowboat I though that it would be a great way to honor my dad. It had been one of the projects that he always wanted to do but never got to because of the many, many projects that had to be done first before he could justify spending his time on a frivolous thing like a broken old boat. I am finding out first hand just like my dad, how that works but with the help and encouragement of many friends and the all important support of my wife it will get done. But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Today is about moms. I was thinking just the other day with Mother's Day coming up; how I could show my appreciation for all that she has done for me and continues to do. When you get to be our age, if you are lucky like me, your parents have pretty much everything they need or want so, going out and getting Mom something for Mother's Day has kind of gone by the wayside. I was also thinking that it may very well be that my passion for old wooden boats may have come not from where I had originally thought but could be attributed to my mom. Moms get the final vote on most thing in life so if my mom had thought that it would have been better for us to be at the local swimming pool in the summer instead of splashing around in the freezing waters of the Tacoma Narrows, we would have spent our summers at Titlow Pool. If mom had thought that those same waters were to dangerous to turn her only son loose in an 8’ dingy, she wouldn’t have told me to go rowing every time I complained about being board. I’m pretty sure she didn’t sleep very soundly when my sister and I thought that it would be great to spend the night sleeping aboard the house (more of a shack) that a neighbor and I built on a raft. It turns out that it was great and we did it many times but the point is that because of all of the life experience that my mom encouraged, not discouraged, I am now living a life that I am pretty damn happy with. Again, this summer, Mom is going to teach us how to live life by over coming her dislike for air travel and go to China with Dad. So, even though we are going to be excited to see the finished Whitehall rowboat in the water this summer, the relanching may have to wait till their return in August. Meanwhile we will just have to entertain ourselves with the Salmon Beach Rowboat. For that and everything else, Thanks Mom. And happy Mother's Day