Montana Woods N Water May 2016 Print Edition | Page 20

TONY REBO

A Mother’s Day Tribute
By Tony Rebo
I always look forward to the month of May as it is the beginning of so many great things. The third Saturday
of May is opening day of creek fishing. Turkey season is just getting over, and we are in full swing scouting
grassy hillsides for spring bear.
The deer and elk are abundant and are seen everywhere. Soon fawns and calves will begin to be born. They
will join the small bears who have wondered out of a wintery sleep. The woods will be filled with new wildlife
that has just been born into this world.
This brings me to another event that occurs in May; a day that we celebrate Mothers. This special day should be celebrated by one and all.
The old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg is simply answered with; a Mom is what started life. This past couple of months
I have been blessed to watch two young ladies give birth to my precious grandsons. Watching these two kids grow into Moms has been so
uplifting. They both have taken the bull by the horns so to speak, and run with it. They both simply amaze me. It has lead me to believe that
there are some things a Mom just knows from instinct.
With all of this deep thought I have been doing, I have been thinking about my own Mom and the woman she is. My Mom was the second
oldest child of eight children. She grew up in the foothills of Black Duck Minnesota, where her father was a coal miner. The family moved to
Montana soon after my Mom graduated from high school. Not very long after that my Mom would marry and have a son. He died of SIDS
when he was only two months old. The doctors told my Mom to not wait and to have another child to help fill the void. A year later I was
born.
Growing up in a small town in western Montana was a gift from God.
I was pretty sheltered from the world and only could relate to world
issues from the news which I watched on the TV. My Mom was a stay
at home Mom and spent her life serving her kids. There were six
more kids who joined me in the family home.