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5 Lessons Everyone Can Learn From my Naturally Zen Mom
One of several ways I hit the lottery in life was the mom who brought me into this world. I know some may find it juvenile using the word ‘mom,’ but she was never ‘mother’ to me or any of my five siblings. She was, and will always be, mom.
Darlene Gerken was born and raised on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in, at best, lower middle-class circumstances. Her dad was a streetcar conductor.
She was born in 1928, six weeks premature. How did a family with little money in the 1920s handle that? They held her. Constantly. One person to the next to the next…for the first six weeks of her life. We theorized that she was so secure and happy her whole life because she spent her first six weeks flooded with affection.
Tennis tournaments and Super-Doopers
Mom and I were close. We spent countless hours driving all over Southern California for my junior tennis tournaments. When I was around eight she used to make me a “Super Dooper” (chocolate sundae with sliced banana and peanuts) on Sunday nights and we’d curl up on the couch and watch Columbo, possibly the best detective show of all time. Great times.
We lost mom in May of 2009, but her legacy endures in those of us lucky enough to have absorbed her life wisdom. Here are five lessons she taught, by…
