The BIGG Successs Show
Mom's Lasting Legacy
Celebrating moms and the lessons they've taught us. Read our show summary at biggsuccess.com.
- Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll discuss mom's lasting legacy. - The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. - Mother's Day is Sunday here in the United States and it's bittersweet for both of us, Mary Lynn, 'cause our moms have both passed on. - Yeah, but their memories are always with us, along with the lessons that we learned from them, and that's the lasting legacy of all of our moms. - So today, we'll discuss three lessons that each of us learned from our moms. - The biggest lesson I learned from my mom was to be confident in who I was. I remember coming home from school one day in tears because some girls on the bus had made fun of me, and mom told me it doesn't matter what other people say, and that some people do things like that because they're not confident in themselves. She told me to walk away when people are being mean and ignore them because I didn't want to stoop down to their level. One thing she always said, "Two wrongs don't make a right." - That's right. - She hugged me and told me how special I was and how much she loved me. - Well, I think one of the biggest lessons I learned from my mom was it's better to give than receive. You know, mom was trained as a practical nurse, and so I think caregiving was kind of in her blood. She always had this desire to help anyone in need. And even towards the end, as long as she was able, she would do absolutely anything she could to help someone else. And Mary Lynn, one of my favorite stories about mom is I remember one time she said that she had driven this little old lady, as she described her, to the doctor one day. And I'm thinking at the time, you know, mom was something like 85 years old. So I'm wondering like, how old is this little old lady? Well, mom says something like, "Oh, she's about 87, I suppose." (laughing) - She was something. Another lesson I learned from my mom, be willing to sacrifice. Mom encouraged my sister and me to be in any and all extracurricular activities we wanted to be in school. And she provided the rides, the drop-offs, the pickups. She willingly sacrificed her time and gave it to us. And I know there were probably lots of things she wanted to do other than giving her ungrateful daughters rides to and from places. - Well, mom taught me to make the most of my money. And she was a prodigious saver. She grew up in the Great Depression. She was a fairly young kid at that time, but it definitely made an impression on her. And so I gotta tell you, that woman could stretch a penny further than anyone I've ever seen in my life. And one way that she stretched money was to make ordinary things extraordinary. And I learned this as an adult, actually. There were a number of meals that when I was a kid, I thought they were just the most special thing, 'cause mom would give them some special name. And then as an adult, I finally figured out, they were really just leftovers or made with food that was gonna go bad if she didn't do something with it. - And she'd give him a fun name, right? - Yeah, like, you know, hamburger. She'd make a loose meat hamburger, basically. Call it yum yums. - Ooh. - Yeah, that was special. - You know, my mom had a saying that I love, she would say, "Think rainbows and butterflies, "not gloom and doom." - And I remember, Marilyn, the first time you ever said that to me, and it just resonates. It's just, it's an awesome saying. - It is. She always encouraged me to get in touch with my creative side and imagine the possibilities. She wanted me to feel free in that happy place. You can't achieve your dreams if you're in a gray, stormy place hiding undercover, right? And I use that saying to this day when I'm having a down day. - And one more lesson that I learned from mom was don't act your age. That is not a great lesson to learn from your mom. And I alluded to this earlier with a little old lady story, but you know, you're only as old as you feel. And when I was born, mom was 43, and I will tell you to the day she died, she would never admit I was an actor, but I know I was, you know? And so the thing is, I remember one of my friends coming over when I was a teenager, my mom got out and shot baskets with us, and my friend commented on how cool my mom was, because his mom would never do anything like that. And just so you know, his mom was at least 20 years younger than my mom at that point. - And I bet she kicked your guys' butts and gave him a horse. - I think she actually did win. - Coming up, how to turn your memories into a great gift for mom. - Today we're talking about mom's lasting legacy, and my sister Pat came up with a great gift for mom one year. And there was only one thing bad about this idea, Marylin. - And what's that? - I didn't think of it myself. - All right now, sibling rivalry. - But the two of us along with our two other sisters, we each wrote roughly 90 memories and gave it to mom, so she had a memory to read each day of the year. And I have to tell you, I don't think mom ever got a gift her entire life that made her so happy. - That was something, it was in a box, right? And so she would just pull out a slip of paper, and it would be a memory from one of you. - And it was all organized for each of the kids had their own separate area, it was awesome. - Now, it's probably too late to do something like that for this mother's day, but here's what you could do as an alternative. You could give your mom the gift of a memory email to her every day for the next year. So you could put that in the card and include one memory to get it started. It's an amazing idea, and this whole concept, it's very inexpensive, but yet very personal. - Absolutely, and the thing you'll find is, it's a little trip down memory lane for yourself, so it's an enjoyable experience, and it sounds like a daunting task, really, when you think about it. But these memories can be really short, they won't take you that long to write, and I guarantee you'll be glad that you did it. - Tell us about the lessons you learned from your mom. Share them with us today on our blog at bigsuccess.com. It's also where we have a written summary of today's show, and let's get our big quote for the day. - Our big quote today comes from Nancy Friday, who said, "When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, "I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself." - So thanks, mom, and happy mother's day. Next time, we'll talk about not moms, but why you should quit jumping on me like a dog. Mary Lynn, I want you to just pay attention to this. - I know. Until then, here's to your big success. - The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]