What a beautiful gift you have given your mom not only with your words, your obvious love and respect for her (and your dad), and your time in your adult life.
What a lucky mom am I to have a son on his 50th birthday bless me with memorable, specific mother-son interactions since 1975. Yes, I had tears and giggles reading his kind tribute. I’m just a mom who dressed her little boy in Walmart’s coordinated bright colored Granimals…sorry, Chip - I’m thankful there was no permanent fashion damage.
I’m thrilled to be a Substack subscriber and I look forward to reading what you have to say in your meaningful words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs…..
What a beautiful gift you have blessed your Mom with, Chip. I can think of no one more deserving than my hardworking, never give up, people loving, big sister. She has certainly weathered a lot of ups and downs, but always manages to keep going, continually demonstrating grace, courage, and perseverance along the way. Thank you for your heart warming letter of gratitude. May every mother be as lucky as her to have a child so eloquently put into words the gratitude that resides in their heart. You are one in a million!
Thanks Aunt Liz! It takes a village as you well know. I could have added a thank you mom for letting us go to Florida with Liz and Gary and grandma and grandpa in middle school so I could watch Andy get into a scuffle with a kid named Max on the cruise ship over a ping pong game plus all the other great stories from that trip! :) Much love, sorry to have missed the festivities this year. Very much appreciate you hosting every year!
I may be the only one here who likes fruitcake, but this article is better than fruitcake for me! Thanks for sharing and many blessings to you and yours this Christmas.
Just did a quick Google and it reports 39% of the population likes fruitcake and 56% disapprove of the holiday dessert. So, you’re not alone out there Maxwell. Appreciate the holiday cheer!
And P.S. it made me want to actually decorate for Christmas soon. That snow! I used my snowblower yesterday around the neighborhood, but probably only had a third of the snow you did. Crazy!
This is amazing! Very well done. It made me laugh and brought a few tears. I may be biased, but this may be my favorite Chip Happens article yet! Cheers to FS, our moms/parents, and our lifelong friendships!
Thank you my dear friend. As the legendary Jim Valvano said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day.” Sounds like you’re already there. Cheers to you and our lifelong friends and friendships!
I loved reading every word of this, and I think your mom is so great I'd love to meet her one day. My oldest, Hannah Fons, was the first-ever Lamaze-method delivery at Madison County Memorial, on October 6, 1975. Also—nice captions on your photos.
What a beautiful gift you have given your mom not only with your words, your obvious love and respect for her (and your dad), and your time in your adult life.
What a lucky mom am I to have a son on his 50th birthday bless me with memorable, specific mother-son interactions since 1975. Yes, I had tears and giggles reading his kind tribute. I’m just a mom who dressed her little boy in Walmart’s coordinated bright colored Granimals…sorry, Chip - I’m thankful there was no permanent fashion damage.
I’m thrilled to be a Substack subscriber and I look forward to reading what you have to say in your meaningful words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs…..
Love everything about you!
Mom
What a beautiful gift you have blessed your Mom with, Chip. I can think of no one more deserving than my hardworking, never give up, people loving, big sister. She has certainly weathered a lot of ups and downs, but always manages to keep going, continually demonstrating grace, courage, and perseverance along the way. Thank you for your heart warming letter of gratitude. May every mother be as lucky as her to have a child so eloquently put into words the gratitude that resides in their heart. You are one in a million!
Thanks Aunt Liz! It takes a village as you well know. I could have added a thank you mom for letting us go to Florida with Liz and Gary and grandma and grandpa in middle school so I could watch Andy get into a scuffle with a kid named Max on the cruise ship over a ping pong game plus all the other great stories from that trip! :) Much love, sorry to have missed the festivities this year. Very much appreciate you hosting every year!
speechless...
Such a wonderfully touching tribute.
What a mom!
....and what a son. The definite shoo-in for the favorite child forever.
Thanks Andy. She certainly put in a lot of effort in yours truly. Appreciate you reading it.
Loved reading this.
Appreciate you reading and commenting, thanks Jill!
I may be the only one here who likes fruitcake, but this article is better than fruitcake for me! Thanks for sharing and many blessings to you and yours this Christmas.
Just did a quick Google and it reports 39% of the population likes fruitcake and 56% disapprove of the holiday dessert. So, you’re not alone out there Maxwell. Appreciate the holiday cheer!
And P.S. it made me want to actually decorate for Christmas soon. That snow! I used my snowblower yesterday around the neighborhood, but probably only had a third of the snow you did. Crazy!
This is amazing! Very well done. It made me laugh and brought a few tears. I may be biased, but this may be my favorite Chip Happens article yet! Cheers to FS, our moms/parents, and our lifelong friendships!
Thank you my dear friend. As the legendary Jim Valvano said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day.” Sounds like you’re already there. Cheers to you and our lifelong friends and friendships!
Love that! Full day indeed!
I loved reading every word of this, and I think your mom is so great I'd love to meet her one day. My oldest, Hannah Fons, was the first-ever Lamaze-method delivery at Madison County Memorial, on October 6, 1975. Also—nice captions on your photos.
Thanks Marianne! They’d have a blast in Winterset on a visit. Hope to make that happen in 2026. Appreciate your support and good cheer!
This is beautiful, Chip! I feel like I know your mom and I think we have a lot in common. I’ll bet she shed some happy tears reading this.
Happy tears are special. Thank you Marge for the encouraging words. 🙏
I love this tribute to your mom, Chip. It is one of the greatest gifts you will ever give her. Well done.
Much appreciated, thank you ❤️
I love this Chip. Now I feel like I know who your mom is, and I definitely feel your love for each other.
We have a special bond. Thank you Connie.
I love this so much. So much care was put into it.
Thank you Bob! She more than earned it.
Lovely family story and tribute which will last forever.
Thank you my friend. Always a pleasure to read your comments.