Red Room Where the Writers Are

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, daughters, and sons!  (Hope I'm not leaving anyone out)
It's time to salute the best mom's in literature, films, and television. The moms we loved, the moms we admired, the moms that made our hearts sing. Join me, won't you....

Marmee March, Little Women

It's not easy for Marmee March; be it her husband fighting in the Civil War, Beth sick with Scarlet Fever, sticking up for Amy when they took away her sweets at school, but Marmee takes it all on in her sweet way, making sure her girls become women in their own seperate ways.

Bambi's Mom, Bambi

Okay I admit it: I've never seen Bambi all the way through. Yes I'm a big baby. Yet no one can doubt the sacrifice she made for her son, and Bambi calling out "Mother! Mother!" is when I have to turn it off and have a good cry.

Stella Dallas, Stella Dallas

Stella Dallas was a party girl in her day; running around with Ed Munn, and she refused for the longest time to divorce Steven Dallas. However she knew that in order for her daughter Laurel to to become successful, she must give her up. After pushing Laurel away, she watches Laurel getting married while Stella looks on outside in the rain. Yet she is not sad about not being at the wedding; when she walks away she has a look of triumph. She did her job as a mother: she let Laurel go and let Laurel become a woman.

Mame Dennis, Auntie Mame

Maybe Mame wasn't a biological mother, but she was all Patrick Dennis had after his parents died. She teaches him life is a banquet, and brother you better live. She stands up to Anti-Semists, snobs, and anyone who gets in her way to raise Patrick to be a person who is open minded and appreciates life like she does.

Olivia Walton, The Waltons

Some people would say Olivia Walton didn't have it easy: seven children in a five bedroom house, living with her inlaws, to top it off living during the Great Depression where they had to walk to Ike Godsey's to use the phone. Yet Olivia is kind, firm when need be, and provides to be a role model for her children that no matter what happens, you keep on going, one foot in front of the other.

Jenny Fields, The World According to Garp

Jenny wanted to be a mother in the worst way, so in one of the best scenes in literature, she gets pregnant with T.S. Garp. In her no nonsense way she raises Garp and works as a nurse, so ahead of her time. When Garp grows up, she opens her home to lost women looking for meaning in their lives, and took her son, daughter in law, and grandson in when a family tragedy befalls them. The master of the stiff upper lip, Jenny manages to be kind and respectful to people, even when she disagrees with them.

Maeve Ryan, Ryan's Hope

Any regular reader of this blog knows that I love Maeve Ryan. Her Irish accent, singing "Danny's Boy" on St. Patrick's Day, and there's her fierce devotion to her children and grandchildren that  endears her to me to no end. She might not agree with everything her children do (living with someone while not married, working for a family planning clinic, rejecting the Catholic Church) but her heart and home is always open to them, no matter what.

Roseanne Conner, Roseanne

God knows she's not perfect. She never claimed to be. She talked back to her children, grew impatient with fools, and never had a problem with waxy yellow buildup because she had other things to worry about. Yet she provided a loving influence on her children and inspired them to go for their dreams, be it becoming a doctor, a writer, or a film director. If inspiring your children is not a good mother, I don't know what is.

And now I honor two real life mothers: my mom Jean Cobb, who inspires me every day to fight the good fight.

And I want to honor my cat Gussie-Gus was a great mom to her child Baby,  making sure she always came in at night, making sure Baby was always clean by licking her all over. We lost Gus this past week, and what keeps me going is that she's with Baby on this Mother's Day.

Be well.