It was just another normal Saturday morning. 8am sharp, Buttface came riding his bike screaming like an idiot towards my house. He had found four 2x4s in a ditch next to the railroad tracks. It never takes much for the idiot to launch into an emotional frenzy. We had agreed to make a handmade tulip for Mother’s Day. A real big surprise for mom! 

The rusty handsaw of my father’s really didn’t perform as expected... hard to make tulip petals with a saw like that. After an hour working on one deformed petal we decided to move on to some other type of artwork. 

The new and improved artwork was going to be a huge cross made of 2x4s. We decided to paint it fire truck red... the same color my grandfather painted my bicycle which was an original from 1915. Once we planted the cross by the curb, it sure made folks drive by a little slower. I hid across the street to see mom’s surprise reaction. The front screen door flew open (I think someone called mom and tipped her off ) she was stunned!  Same reaction as when Dad brought home his choice of Christmas tree... I knew I had made a great gift from the response she uttered. 

Her tone of voice reached the top of the voice scale... a shriek heard round the world! She slammed the door shut and I could hear strange noises of pure delight. I had rung her bell and it was all worth it. The cross stayed the entire weekend and then someone stole it. Some people will steal anything that they really want! That cross was 5 foot tall, and I aim to bring it back home for mom. I’m sure there is not one other bright red cross in this town.

Mom had tears in her eyes all weekend. She knows I love her.

Hug your kids and love your neighbors.