ARDETH RODALE WAS INSPIRATIONAL

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It is fitting, yet coincidental, that I should be paying tribute this special weekend to another woman who has both impressed and inspired me over the years.  Ardeth Rodale was a loving, dedicated mother, but she was much, much more.   She was a  highly successful  corporate executive, a generous philanthropist, a creative thinker and talented writer.

For many years her "Reflections" column graced the back page of Prevention magazine, published by the global media company of which she was chairwoman and one-time CEO.  She shared a unique message of finding love, hope and inspiration in everyday life.  She urged her readers and associates to find meaning in simple but profound ways.

One notable column penned by Ardath served as the inspiration for my story about feathers a number of years ago and reintroduced in Wrights Lane last year.  Regular readers of her creative, heart-felt writing were of one accord -- she was always like an old friend who they had never met.

As years crept up on Ardeth, one of her daughters eventually assumed control of the family's business interests.  In her new role as "company inspirational officer" she continued writing her Reflections column and inspiring thousands of loyal followers.

It was only today that I learned of Ardeth's passing several months ago at 81 years of age, and I am left with a very empty feeling, like something is missing in the world -- a great void.  In the words of one of the current editors of  Prevention:  "Her signature voice can never be replaced."

I have no doubt that she now rejoices in a precious reunion with her late husband and one of her sons, both of whom died quite tragically some 20 years ago.

She worked faithfully, diligently and thoughtfully for her much-deserved place in Heaven.

HERE'S TO ALL MOTHERS

Happy Mother's Day! 

As a tribute to mothers everywhere, here is a collection of inspirational quotes coming straight from the hearts of some of the most prolific writers and celebrated personalities (one exception) of our time. Enjoy!

1. "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."  --Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

2. "Never marry a man who hates his mother, because he'll end up hating you."  --Jill Bennett

3. "A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary."  --Dorothy Canfield Fisher
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4. "At work, you think of the children you have left at home.  At home, you think of the work you've left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent."  --Golda Meir

5. "Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever."  --Unknown

6. "As is the mother, so is her daughter."  --Ezekiel 16:4

7. "Men are what their mothers made them."  --Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. "Most mothers are instinctive philosophers."  --Harriet Beecher Stowe

9. "We never know the love of the parent until we become parents ourselves."  --Henry Ward Beecher

10. "The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."  -- Honore de Balzac, author

11. "The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom."  --Henry Ward Beecher

12. "Who is getting more pleasure from this rocking, the baby or me?"  --Nancy Thayer, author

13. "By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class."  --Ann Morrow Lindbergh, author

14. "Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."  --Lin Yutang, Chinese writer

15. "Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground."  --Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist and writer

16. "That best academy, a mother's knee."  --James Russell Lowell, poet, critic and diplomat

17. "Making a decision to have a child--it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  --Elizabeth Stone

18. "Anyone who doesn't miss the past never had a mother."  --Gregory Nunn

19. "A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."   --Tenneva Jordan

20. "The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint."  --James Fenton

21. "No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement."  -- Florida Scott-Maxwell


22.  "To all mothers' sons I say: "Dear old dad knew best when he chose your mom...When the time is right, you would do well to choose just as wisely!"  --Dick Wright

GOD BLESS MOMS...WHEREVER THEY ARE!

TOGETHER AGAIN:  I publish this 60-year-old photo as a tribute to my cousin Donna and her then newborn son Skippy.  I could not find a better illustration portraying the significance of Mother's Day.  Sadly, Donna passed away earlier this year at 83 years of age.  Skip, 60,  joined his mother three weeks later.