Happy Mother's Day!

John Kass had a nice tribute to his mom in yesterday's Chicago Tribune. She clearly instilled in him the love of reading, which ultimately lead him to his writing career.

Another choice involved money, which we didn't have. Still, she insisted that my father spend $300 for the My Book House Books series, 12 volumes of classic stories and poems.

"We paid $9.69 a month for three years," she said. "We didn't have a dime. But I thought it was worth it."

Every evening at bedtime, she'd read to us from the special books. What we didn't understand then was that she never bought new clothes for herself. She had two dresses, but we didn't notice.

She'd buy us books and slip us money to buy books. Books were our one luxury.