Today is the birthday of my mother, the greatest woman in the world. After years and years of Janet’s Planets written in my honor, I feel as though it is my time to repay the favor. It is difficult to find a starting point from which to begin listing the endless reasons why my mom is so amazing. I suppose I should start with my mom, as a person.

The word “Joy� appears in our house in a variety of locations, usually adorning some rustic wood carving, or written on a ‘zen rock’ of some sort. Although the inspirational decorations can be somewhat tiresome to a young boy, I’ve realized that the word exemplifies the character and soul of my mother. Joy radiates from her skin. She reminds us all that we have a million things to be gracious and thankful for in our lifetime, regardless of the problems that may be occurring around us. She knows that a happy and joyful life is the best kind of existence, and her contagious spirit makes the rest of us better. I can remember many a morning from my past where my day began not with an alarm clock, or someone shaking you out of bed. Instead, the day would begin with Mom belting out some sort of inspirational song, such as “God told Noah, there’s gonna be a floody floody..�. This was done over the house intercom system, as a means to wake up Pat, Mike, Me, and even my Dad sometimes. We’d open our eyes to the day laughing, and immediately being touched by the bountiful spirit my mom has. This is how she does it; always thinking of you first, and always wanting you happy. This is something I used to take for granted, but now, waking up in my one bedroom apartment alone to a pile of dishes and homework I haven’t done from the night before, I really miss the old wake up calls. Maybe I should get some “Joy� themed memorabilia. Couldn’t hurt.

Beyond being a great person, I can testify to the fact that my mother, Janet Dahl, is the greatest mother that ever was. No ifs, ands, or buts. I never really made it easy on my mom to look out for me, putting up walls, closing off communication. I’m not sure why I did that now, but it seems to be a teenage syndrome. Regardless, that never deterred her. My mom is the type that can sense exactly what is going on without having to be told directly by me what the situation was. Whether it was stress from school, friends, the world, she always knew the moment you walked in the door. It’s like she has a sixth sense for her children. For me, this wasn’t always the greatest, as she could also sense the trouble and mischief one was aligning themselves with. My brothers and I were always pretty involved in school activities, many of them with appointments for parents to come and cheer on their kids. These activities ranged from football, to chorus, to jazz band, award ceremonies(for Pat and Mike mainly), and countless other things. Of course, Mom was at each and every one, just to let you know that she cared about what you were doing. I can’t imagine anyone would want to see a bunch of high school kids perform ‘South Pacific’, but apparently she did. She came to every show of the production, and I was only running the soundboard. Now that’s support.

My mom has always done everything for my brother’s and I, even when we were ungrateful little bastard kids. I would have probably just thrown the towel in, but not her. She gave up a career in law, after years of studying to successfully pass the Bar Exam, because she thought she could raise us to be better men by staying home and keeping a close eye on us. In summation, she put her goals, dreams, and ambitions on the back burner, in an effort to increase mine and my brother’s quality of life. Talk about your altruistic good deeds. I know that my mom would do anything for us, no matter what the consequences. In our family of 5, she puts her self last, and never complains.

In addition to being an amazing mother, my mom is also an incredible friend. She always makes herself available for conversation, and is there to listen when you need to talk. There is no advice I value more than hers. I know my brothers and I still call her frequently for input in our daily lives, because after all, mother knows best. Mom is also pretty damn funny. As you might imagine, our family has somewhat of a unique sense of humor, and things that might never be discussed in some families, are our typical dinner table conversations. If we had landed a nice zing against, oh say, my dad, Mom didn’t shy away from laughing and/or piling on. She knows how to rally a joke with us, and usually make things even funnier. It’s the things like dressing our dog, Mabel, up in long tube socks in honor of the White Sox playoff run of 2005 that I will always remember and carry with me, no matter where life takes us.

More than anything else, she just wants you to smile, be happy, and full of life and love. She has made it her life’s work to instill this value into all three of us boys, and even my dad. In her doing so, I believe her spirit has touched not only us, but all of those around her, and we are all better for it. My mom makes me a better person, the best person I can be, without question. I know very few people with such a power, and I am infinitely lucky to have one as my mom. Happy Birthday to the most amazing, caring, giving, loving, devoted, dedicated, remarkable, awesome, tremendous, hilarious, joyful, fantastic, out of this world lady—My Mom.