Mom was on the phone recently, hinting...

Mom was on the phone recently, hinting about a certain special day. She was hinting pretty broadly.

“By the way,” she said, “Sunday is Mother’s Day. Make me proud.”

Wasn’t she proud of us already?

“You still the editor of that paper?” she asked.

“We’re the publisher now.”

A small lie. But she has a weak heart.

We remembered how she used to treat our frequent earaches when we were a child. She would warm the medicine, put it in with a dropper, then gently massage the ear.

“You used to look forward to that,” she said.

If she were here with us today, we’d take her to the Santa Monica Symphony Assn.’s performance of Beethoven’s violin concerto and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

She’s visiting next month.

We’re praying for an earache.