#36 (3-6) of the Top 75 NBA Series-These stories will appear randomly based on the significance of the number we’re dialing in. Psst! Happy Birthday Mom!

One day Alex’s Mom pointed out the number game my parents play with one another: My Mom’s birthday is 3-6, and my Dad’s is 6-3. How cool, right? And, with a birthday like 3-6, on a day like today, you know what that means, Happy Birthday, Mom! (Now imagine 80 exclamation points!)

It just goes to show how together they make the perfect equation.

And today is the day to honor story number 36 of the Top 75 NBA Series–Sondra Cunningham to some, Mrs. C. to others, and Mom to me. I can think of no way to celebrate her more on her birthday than remembering the woman behind my Dad’s success.

And it’s a lesson today’s generation might not be getting. Standing by your man may not be viewed as a good thing anymore.

But let me show you how Mom did it. We’re going back, spending most of our time in 1980 when Dad was already coaching (sticking with the 80s theme here!), but we’ll be covering more time than we realize.

Mom knew how to make the most of society. Even though she wanted to go to UNC for four years, women were only allowed to go there for two (unless they were journalism or nursing majors.) She told so many stories of the two years she did go there, I always forget the two years she went to Sullins.

She had grown up an only child with a husband who was on the road most of the time, so it made her very independent.

In her twenties, before my sister and I were born, she poured herself into teaching (second grade and nursery school).

Meanwhile, Mom went to every game she could, clipped every newspaper article that Dad appeared in, or saved the whole paper because she didn’t have time to cut it out, and spent a good portion of her time watching the man she loved on TV. It wasn’t easy being the wife of Billy C whether he was a coach or a player, but she never complained, and made scrapbooks of him, too.

Mom had to celebrate a lot of birthdays without Dad, but that didn’t stop her from going out and having fun.

Mom got involved with everything around her, and when Dad came home, she dragged him into all sorts of activities, too.

So by the time I came along, and then my sister, no wonder Mom took on motherhood with the same enthusiasm, passion and love she brought to everything else she did.

I remember everyone thinking how cute my sister was. Of course she was cute, and how outgoing my Mom was, and well, I tried to fade into the background as best I could.

But not Mom! She would not let anyone forget her.

She was on committees of her own creation at my school, hospital charities, Junior League, whatever was going on, she was always co-chairing something with a friend or two. I don’t think Carol Springer from the Society Page of The Main Line Times could even keep up with Mom.

Mom loved her friends, they did even more committees together. They even started a public relations firm.

So when the 80s came around, Mom described herself as a partner in a public relations firm, a mother, and, get this, “a part-time father.” -The Times Herald May 7, 1980, “Sondra Cunningham: Providing Moral Support For An NBA Coach.”

Apparently her independence rubbed off on me. In the same article, Mom told the story of a woman who told me I had such nice taste, she hoped I’d marry someone with money. Mom quoted me as saying, ‘I don’t have to. I’ll make it on my own.'”

Of course, Mom also had the tendency to paraphrase. I never said things exactly as Mom retold them. But “it was close enough,” she’d say. So you get the gist, I said something along those lines.

Once Mom tried to get me involved in a fashion show she was involved with. I had to model a bathing suit. Mom had painted my toenails and I didn’t want to take off my socks, even though everyone was trying to convince me no one went to the beach with their socks on, that didn’t make me change my mind and I walked down the runway with socks on. Way to make a statement when you didn’t want to!

But no matter what work Mom was involved with, whether Dad was around or not, Mom was always Dad’s number one supporter.

Once I had to write an English paper about my hero. So I wrote about my Dad. Mom read the paper and said it was really good, but then asked me why I always write about Dad and not about her?

I didn’t really have an answer for her. But now I do. It’s not until the daughter becomes the mother that she finally understands what her mother was all about. Mom was the glue that held our family together. She taught us how you could be your own person, but support your husband, and love every minute of it.

Here’s my shot to let Mom know how much I love her and thank her for being the glue that’s held us together.

If you liked this, maybe you’d also like “Oh, Mother! That’s Part Of The Game”