05/09/2026
Whenever I have a tuna melt, I think of my mom. I think about her working three jobs to make sure we never wanted for anything as we grew up. And yet, somehow, she was at every dance recital, band and choir performance, school function, parent-teacher conference, and more. She was there driving us to practices and rehearsals, going over spelling lists every night for upcoming tests, and making sure we were doing our best in school. She bought the trumpet for middle school band. She paid for school trips. She went into Hot Topic, likely against her will, when I was going through a really big emo phase.
She was washing and ironing our clothes. She was doing dishes. She was making chocolate chip cookies in the same giant white Tupperware bowl at least once a month. She was putting food on the table whether it was Hamburger Helper or Shake n’ Bake after driving 40 minutes home from South Bend, Indiana after being a killer paralegal all day.
Then on Wednesday nights, she’d go type for the local paper.
Sometimes, during the summers when it was just me and my sister at home, we would make “tuna melts” in the microwave with leftover hamburger buns and Kraft singles. I still crave those, sometimes. But I think back on how blessed we were to never have to worry about having food in the house. We could make what we wanted without concern. Because mom was busting her tail for us and still showing up everywhere. She was amazing. She is amazing.
Moms are amazing.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful moms out there! Thank you for all you do!