It's all about you Mom!

If anybody ever wants to debate the effect that divorce has on children I'm the guy to debate.

Very simply our lives changed at exactly 1:30 pm on July 15, 1961 when my Mother and Father divorced in Edmonton and the three boys and Mom boarded a flight to Toronto.

Flights were about 6 or 7 hours to the big smoke back then but I will never forget my first taste of 'jet lag' and moving from a really nice house in Parkview with lots of good friends into the basement of my Aunt Isabels house on Donlands Road in Toronto with 'no' friends.

Over the next several years Mom somehow saved enough money to by a condo for us; then we ultimately moved into a nice small house in the Don Mills area; as we started all over in a totally new environment as a single parent family.

It took me many many years to ask my Mother about those days as I was, at age 10, far too young to understand the impact of what was going on - as were my younger brothers, aged 8 and 5.

Child support for the three of us was $150 a month and Mom worked a full time job to support us too.

I guess we were latch key kids because I remember we would walk to schools then return home after classes where Mom would get home just in time to make us all a good meal.

Throughout the next several years we 'lacked for nothing,' somehow, as Mom found enough money to put all of us into sports; music lessons (accordian Mom - what were you thinking?) buy us each a bicycle, and we had a great 'black and white' tv so that we could watch the two Canadian channels we had and the three from Buffalo that came in over the air before cable.

Mom helped us with our school projects all the time, and we 'squeeked by' each year and eventually got into enough trouble (though nothing serious) that kids that don't have a dominant male around can easily get into. The day we got caught breaking into the Double Bubble company to steal gum (?) was a classic.

About 1964 Mom met a great man, Mike Sheehy, and as a guy who served in the Canadian military brought us that discipline that came in real handy later in life - and that was something that we didn't truly understand or appreciate like we should have until we finally 'grew up' many years later.

I don't want to bore you with all the details of our lives because we were extremely fortunate to have a mother like Noreen Sheehy because it was 'all about us' all the time and I just want to say an overdue "thanks Mom."

I know it must have been tough on you especially every summer on the 'last' day of school in Toronto when we would board the plane back to Edmonton to see Dad and every day on the 'last' day of summer when we would return - robbing you of the summer fun that a normal family would enjoy during theschool break as we were out having fun in Alberta with Dad.

We cried when we left you - we cried when you picked us up again upon our return - that I will never forget.

Mom is now 83 years old and each and every time we chat on the phone she makes me laugh. My brother still has her go 'on the air' with him in Calgary and her Stump My Mom contest is a blast.

She has endured strokes, heart attacks, a brain aneurism, broken bones, and several other maladies that would knock down lesser women but each time she somehow comes back stronger and stronger.

She raised the three of us; bore another great son Neil, and has trained dogs that made it all the way to Hollywood films (James Garner/Mary Tyler Moore flick) and continues to be a grandmother to three more 'boys' in Toronto to this day while she trains yet 'another puppy' in the household.

I've written several times publicly how much my late father Jerry Forbes influenced me in my life; ditto the very positive things I learned from my step father Mike Sheehy - but I just realized today that I've never done a 'written' tribute to one very special lady - Noreen Elizabeth Sheehy.

Mom, may you live to be 100 - we need you around until we finally grown up and really appreciate how much of a huge influence you were and are to us as being good 'people' in this world.

Enjoy the flowers - they really can't say enough about how much you mean to Gord (Josh, Joel, Cally) , Gerry, Neil, my daughters Lauren and Rayanne; your three grandchildren in house and of course ME!

Happy Mothers Day!