Mother’s Day is May 10 and I am so lucky to have my mom. She is 97 years old and sharp as a tack! She was born in Sicily and came here in the late 1920’s as a teenager with her parents and brothers and sisters. Eight children in all, but my grandmother was not the “Octomom,” she had them one at a time! â¨â¨My mother kept my brother, Emil, and I in line with sheer fear tactics. She wouldn’t let me have a bike because she said, “You will get hurt.” I got her to get me one when I was 11 years old, by telling her she was “too cheap” to buy me one. Then when I went outside to ride it, she said, “You better not fall or I’ll kill you!” Well, of course, I fell and really scraped my knee. It was bleeding and dirty and when I limped in, she said, “Did you fall?” I said “No, Ma, I’m just imitating Uncle Rocco when he’s drunk.” â¨â¨As a teenager she would tell me not to get in cars with any boys I didn’t know or I would end up dead in the woods. I would say, “But, Ma, we have no woods, we live in Newark!” Then I’d have to hide under the bed or I’d get it with the wooden spoon! â¨â¨The one thing I knew and still know is that she would do anything for us. She is an amazing woman who came to this country, worked hard as a dressmaker and then helped form the Ladies Garment Worker Union that in those days ended Sweat Shops. She and my father were the best parents anyone could ever have. And I only hope I am half the woman she is. So, celebrate Mother’s Day at J.R.’s Comedy Club on Friday, May 8 and all moms get in for free.
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