It was the best of times; It was the worst of times

For me, Mom has always been an example of Christlike goodness. I don't think she has ever had a mean or unkind thought towards anyone. Mom also exhibited the Christlike behavior of mercy many times towards us as kids in our growing up years with the mischief we would get into. One story in particular sticks out in my memory.

One night Matt and I and our friend Paul from across the street had planned the most glorious sleepover of all time - or at least for that summer! We had it all planned out that Paul would would come over early in the afternoon so that we could stretch the evening's activities out as long as possible. The evening was to start off with the always thrilling event of throwing water balloons at cars. Afterward, the schedule was a little loose but, eventually we were to end up sleeping out under the stars in Doctor Young's boat that was parked in our driveway for some reason.

The water ballooning started off great. We were landing some great hits from our hiding spots behind bushes as cars drove up Pheasant Way.  I don't know why we did it. Maybe we wanted the thrill of danger and a possible chase. Eventually, we nailed a car with a spectacular splat that provoked the angry motorist to screech to a halt. The chase was on! We ran from our hiding places at top speed around the house with the ultimate goal of concealing ourselves in the wooded area behind Dad's workshop. If we could just make it across the ditch to the wild area of the yard, no one could follow us there. The three of us rounded the house into the backyard, Paul in the middle and Matt and I on either side. We just had to cross the driveway and we would be nearly home free.

Now, Dad had been working for quite some time on rebuilding the Bellanca airplane in his workshop. He had recently finished one of the wings and it was temporarily stored under a tarp at the edge of the driveway. In our escape, Matt ran around one side of the wing and I simultaneously went around the other. Paul, however, was not accustomed to avoiding airplane obstacles in the driveway and ran right down the middle putting a couple of footprints through the fabric wing!

At that moment of horror, I honestly don't know if we kept running or if the angry motorist even got out of the car to chase us, we just knew we were in serious trouble! The most glorious sleepover of all time was finished! How would we ever survive the deserved wrath of Dad? We couldn't bear to face Dad with our stupidity, so we went to Mom for mercy. If anyone could make things better, we knew if would be Mom! We confessed our transgressions to Mom and plead that she would intercede for us.

Although I'm sure we received some punishment for what we did, I don't remember what it was. What I will ALWAYS remember, however, is Mom having mercy on us. She saved us the most excruciating part--  telling Dad what happened to the wing while we cowered in fear somewhere else.

Thanks Mom for your understanding and love. Thanks for always being there in the good times and the rough times. I always had the feeling that through the bumps and bruises of growing up that you could always make things better. Thanks for being my mom.
Love, Charles