I was one of five boys. . . you can only imagine what our house was like as we were being raised. Mom was wonderful in always keeping the boys corralled. I learned a lot from my mother; she and my father were really good at teaching us to take care of things by giving us responsibilities. As much as my brothers and I wanted to buck the rules, I see now that those responsibilities were really helpful as we grew into adults and learned how to take care of ourselves.

One thing I really appreciate about my mom is that she really cared deeply about her family. My dad worked really hard, my mom was a stay at home mom. They made a lot of sacrifices for their family. She was extremely loyal to us all, in fact, I don’t ever recall my parents going on a vacation without us boys. Family meant everything to mom and she is the glue that held us all together.

I can remember a specific incident when I experienced my mother’s love in a profound way. My brothers and I had gotten into a fight with the neighbor boys and their mom came out screaming and hollering at us, calling us names. My mom became the momma bear that you did not want to come face to face with. I watched my mom protect us and stand up for us in a way that I had never seen before—it was an incredible display of her love for her boys. No matter how right or wrong we may have been, no one was going to talk to us like that with mom around, that’s for sure.

Mom was always supportive and encouraging to each one of us with all the things we did as kids. That was huge for me as I was pursuing my career in baseball. My parents weren’t trying to live a dream through me they were simply there to support me. That kind of love is powerful. I’ve seen my mom sacrifice a lot for us and for my father over her 84 years. To be honest with you, I don’t know how she survived but she did. She’s an amazing woman and a saint in my book.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” —1 Corinthians 13:4-8