For Mother’s Day, Our Thoughts On Mom

At TJM, we love our mothers. This month we celebrate them for all their wonderfulness, craziness and fun. Here’s a sample of our Mom stories:

Lena Ruotolo

My mom likes to pretend that she's super tough. And she is! She's been teaching dance for a really long time, and she's a tough cookie. And when I was growing up, she used to always say that once our pets died, that was IT! No more!

But even when we got older, and the pets from my childhood got older and started to pass away, my mom still had a soft spot for any animal that needed a home.

The cat that I have as an adult? My mom saw him hiding in a bush when I was learning how to drive after his mother had been hit by a car. Before I'd even had the chance to see him, she had me get out of the car to go get him so we could bring him home.

She's had two cats that just needed a home that she opened her doors to because, and I quote, "where else are they going to go?" She was actually the one who told me I should get my dog, and she let him stay with her for six months while we moved to a place that would allow him.

She's currently helping raise a litter of kittens because someone dumped a stray in her neighborhood. And all because Sheila is very loving and tender-hearted, and could never turn someone away that needs her.

And between you and me, I think she secretly likes having the pets. All of the cats love her, and she doesn't even have to try.

Rick Cundiff

My mom was a world traveler, yet she lived most of her life in the same small town. As a businesswoman, she knew everyone and everything in the town, and the county for that matter. She knew where to get the information she needed.

One day, a fire broke out in the next town over, about 10 miles away. She heard about it on her police scanner, and wanted to find out exactly where it was.

Now, Dad was a police officer at the time, so she probably could just have waited until he was off duty to find out. But Mom wasn’t that patient.

So who did she call? The Shoney’s restaurant in the next town over, of course. She asked them where the fire was. And they told her!

Matt Fischer

My mother is a saint and the sweetest lady.  She is the funniest and gives the best advice.  Too many examples to list here.

Shannon Moore

Best advice:

Honestly, it’s kind of endless. Situations arise pretty much daily that I seek advice on. Most recently, Colt (who’s about to be one year old) was dancing and smashed his face. I wasn't sure if I needed to be worried about a broken tooth, or if I just roll with it. There was minimal blood, and I think it ended up just being a little surface gum scratch. But panic was for sure felt.  Followed up by a phone call to my mom, who said it was going to be fine.

Sense of humor:

My own sense of humor as a mother is often entertaining and I'm still trying to navigate it. I am trying to be a mature adult for my kids, but in certain situations, my immaturity overpowers.

Recent example: my oldest child busting in to the kitchen with a pool noodle between his legs yelling out a very inappropriate comment about a body part's size.... My child-like level of maturity burst out laughing, and I had to turn my back, compose myself, then turn back around and inform him that while its funny at home, we can't talk like that with other people because its not very gentleman-like behavior.

My mom's sense of humor, in my opinion, is a little more on the mature side where she often eye rolls at my jokes. At least the side she let us kids see ... now, if you introduce a little hooch, that’s a different story.

Marjoery Anderson (Shannon’s Mom)

LOL  kids ...  I can just say this. Assuming I'm Just an Old Lady Was Your First Mistake.

Fun fact about Shannon. There was a time when Shannon was handed a baby to hold. She held her, but with arms straight out, asking "What am I supposed to do with this?"  Fast forward to 2023. My, have things changed! As parents, her dad and I couldn't be any more proud of the awesome mother she has become to Jameson and Colt, not to mention juggling motherhood with a career and being successful at both!