Local 4 meteorologist Brandon Roux’s ode to his mom this Mother’s Day:
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They say a mother’s job is never done.
I turned 50 years old this year, and I still rely on my mom for advice on life’s tough decisions, or how to make that flank steak marinade just right. Our moms mold us by what they teach, how they discipline and leading by example. Our moms make memories by the smells in the kitchen of things only they can make or bake just right. Our moms are usually the emotional support we need when we make mistakes, get our hearts broken or get our butts kicked in yet another fight with Brian Wall ... that was a long time ago.
There are always the little oddities that make our moms ours.
For instance, when I was in elementary school, my mom would occasionally come up with a gem like dropping a hot dog into a hot thermos of tomato soup. The soup heated the hot dog and it made for a pretty cool lunch in the 1970s at Seth Payne Elementary School in Lake Zurich, Illinois. Then there was the one morning when my mom was cooking breakfast sausage and for some reason, it looked so good to me raw. I went over to the Jimmy Dean Sausage Roll and plucked a pinch of raw sausage and ate it. Moms have eyes in the back of their heads, don’t you know, so mom saw what I did. She took me into the bathroom and made me make myself throw up. I never did that again.
Mom made sure our birthdays belonged to us. We didn’t have to make our beds in the morning, and dinner was anything you wanted. I always asked mom to make her French chicken. She made other dishes like German Rouladen, creamed chicken on rice or toast and homemade french onion soup -- just to name a few. And, whenever dad and I wanted liver with bacon and onions, she made sure she was literally out of town before stocking the fridge with calf’s liver. Gross, I know, but I still love it to this day.
And, I will absolutely never forget the awesome football cakes she would make for me on my birthday.
My mom tried her darnedest to create “family night.” My sisters were older than me and weren’t too big on this idea. Still, once a week we would all gather on the couch and watch “The Waltons” on TV. “Good night, John Boy!” We watched “Charlie’s Angels,” “Knots Landing” and “The Love Boat” together, too. This tradition didn’t truly take, but I remember those nights like they were yesterday.
Mom would drop the odd pearl, too. If I chose to forget to tell her something, she’d say, “That’s lying by omission.” Or, if someone got on my nerves at school, she’d say, “Some people are just born buttinskies.”
Like most mothers, my mom endured the toughest job in the world: raising kids and making our house a home. She was also the mom who went back to school and work to put her three kids through college.
We never know what life will bring to us one day to the next, and I’m so thankful that I don’t have to worry about my relationship with my mom. We still talk on the phone like teenagers and are crazy honest to a fault, which keeps those little talks very lively.
I love you Gloria Sue Roux! Happy Mother’s Day!
And Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there doing the very best they can do. That’s all we need.
- Brandon Roux
More: Show your mom how much you love her with a photo shout-out for Mother’s Day