Mother's Day

Mother's Day is sometime in May, I guess, but I don't see any reason not to celebrate one's mother on any or every day.

Although her primary interest and activity is Democratic politics, my mother has been involved in pretty much every worthwhile civic organization in Salina, Kansas. Currently, she's on the boards of the Commission on Aging, the Food Bank, and volunteers at a day care center for seniors, to name just a few. Over the years, there have been many more than I could hope to remember, and probably quite a few that she's forgotten about herself.

She doesn't mess with organizations that do nothing but get together to talk among themselves over lunch or coffee, but if they are actively involved in doing something worthwhile for the community, chances are good that she has ran it, chaired it, volunteered with it, or organized it in some manner or another.

It is no surprise then that she's also been volunteering with the Salina Animal Shelter. Some time ago, a new director came on board and made some good changes, including getting volunteers involved and taking shelter dogs out to community events. One such event took place this past weekend, one of those home and garden expo sort of things. My mother volunteered for a shift in the shelter's booth on Sunday, which is just the sort of thing she's good at because she knows half the town and will talk to absolutely anyone who passes within earshot. (Believe me, a simple trip to anywhere in Salina needs a half hour built in for talking to people she runs into.)

She called me after her shift on Sunday all excited because they had found an adopter for Sissy, a very senior boxer girl who had been dumped at the shelter when her owners moved without her. Placing any dog is always cause for celebration, but placing a senior dog calls for fireworks. I place calls like that to her whenever I get a dog adopted, and for once I was on the receiving end and could hear the excitement, the elation, the "high" that you get from nothing else. And the icing on the cake, she also managed to help someone get a dog spayed or neutered that otherwise wouldn't have happened.

As we said to each other, some days it is hard to tell if you've made a difference. Fortunately, some days it is easy.