Proud of Mom

For almost three years, my son Nathan has heard me talk about the book I was co-authoring with blind 9/11 survivor Michael Hingson. He listened to stories about Mike and his hero guide dog, Roselle, who guided him down 78 floor of the World Trade Center, read chapters, and offered his opinion on titles. In that time, he fell in love with Roselle, felt deeply sad when she passed away, gained a fascination for service dogs, and found it extremely cool that his mom knew a man who occasionally appeared on television. 

On Saturday night, we finally launched the book, Running with Roselle at a big speaking event that Mike and Susy Flory (his co-author for New York Times Bestseller, Thunder Dog) were doing. Nathan proudly pointed out pictures of me with Roselle when they popped up during a slidshow. He named, "Mom got to go up on stage, too" as a highlight of his evening. And at the end of the night, he got the honor of stamping each book that Mike and I signed with Roselle's pawprint stamp (her pawtograph).  

In all the exciting, I must say that having my son at my side to share every moment of the event meant as much to me as holding my first hot-off-the-press copy. Nathan didn't just tag along, he fully participated and was truly proud of his mom. The memory of him nudging me whenever he heard my name mentioned during the program, and watching his hand carefully stamp about 100 books taught me that while parents take pride in their kids' accomplishments, it is also nice to have an occasional role reversal.

As a mom, it felt nice to have my son not only share this special night with me, but also be excited for me. He treated it like the big deal it was from the moment we woke up on Saturday morning and he said, "It's your big day. Are you excited?"

I decided to share this story to inspire you. When is the last time you participated in something that was a big deal to your mom or dad? When have you shown them, "I'm proud of you" through your response to exciting news or a big accomplishment? How many times have they done this for you?

This week, maybe you can ask God for opportunity to show one of your parents that you are proud of them. Take my word for it: it never stops feeling nice.