Yikes! I have become my Mom! My Mom was a common sense woman; she did not run a restaurant; we ate what was put in front of us; she expected us to try all types of food whether we thought we liked it or not! My Dad backed her up! Even though he was a meat and potato man; hard working farmer; Mom prepared vegetables and fruit was a dessert!

I grew up in the fifties and people looked at things differently then. My mother insisted I needed to eat eggs and drink milk although she never made me eat anything. The funniest thing I remember is that I liked suckers and jaw breakers and she said they had no food value. She said if I wanted candy I should eat chocolate because it had milk in it. It turns out mother was right about chocolate but for a different reason.

When my sister and I were younger and not feeling good, our mom would check to see if we had a fever by kissing my cheeks and forehead. While showing love and concern, she unkowingly manage to always stick her nose in our eye. We would refer to this as 'The Sick Kiss'

My Mother was always healthy; up until she got cancer at the age of 88. Just by her actions, she instilled in me the necessity for well-balanced meals; exercise and just plain common sense when it came to taking care of yourself. I am 68 and am not on any medication. So I owe my good health to my Mom and her good examples while growing up.

My mom 1) used olive oil before it was universally known to be healthful 2) had a salad with dinner every night 3) had everyone eat dinner together, three habits she passed on to us. Now in our late sixties, my brother and I are still as slender and healthy as we were then. Thanks, Mom.