<THE FRIBBLE>
Monday, December 14, 1998

My Mom, The Fool

by ([email protected])

It's Christmas time and, as they do every year at this time, my thoughts turn to my Mom, the Fool.

Long before I ever heard of The Motley Fool, I heard Mom telling me not to spend all of my birthday money. She taught me to get a job (and got up with me at 5:30 in the morning to make sure I delivered the papers on time). She told me I wasn't allowed to buy a car at 16.

Mom had some pretty Foolish ideas. For instance, her broker advised that she sell a particular stock (the broker had advised against the purchase in the first place). Mom, who never buys anything without careful research, cheerfully pooh-poohed the broker's Wise contention that the stock had reached its maximum value, and stubbornly continued to sit on the stock, picking up a substantial gain by doing so. If you pay attention, you'll hear her muttering at her friends as she does their tax returns, wondering why they allow their brokers to churn their accounts.

Obviously, Mom is my kind of Fool. But that's not why I think of her at this time of year. It's because, as usual, the space on my Christmas list by her name is empty. And she'll be happy if it stays that way.

What a Fool Mom is. She has everything she needs, and everything she wants (except maybe more time with her grandchildren). Money isn't going to buy her anything important, and she knows it. She knows I love her, and doesn't want giftwrap to prove it. I can't get her knickknacks, because she hates clutter, and eating chocolate makes her feel guilty. Besides, she can think of better things for me to do with the money. Invest it for those grandchildren, for instance. Or donate it to charity.

Last year, I finally really got it. And Mom got a card with a note, a dollar amount, and the name of a charity. I haven't seen her so pleased since the spouse and I announced that we could finally afford the new car we'd been wanting, but had decided to save the money instead.

So the space by her name is empty again this Christmas. She'll love it. Merry Christmas to my Mom. The Fool.

<% =headlines %>

Have a similar tale?
Talk about it in the Fribble Message Folder!

</THE FRIBBLE>