Lookback: a tribute to my mother on her eightieth birthday

From 2009:

My mother has given me countless other gifts through the years, starting with the gift of a sense of humor. I was, she says, an earnest little boy who was disinclined to laugh at much of anything, and she worked overtime to teach me how to smile at the myriad absurdities of the world, a lesson that I like to think I learned well. I’m returning the favor half a lifetime later: I call Mom from wherever I am most nights, and every time I do so, I always do my best to make her laugh, usually with success….

Read the whole thing here.