Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday

“The Most Precious Word”

By JIMMY DUNNE

A story from the book “Jimmy Dunne Says”

(Editor’s note: Today on the Duffy in the Marina, helmed by Captain Jimmy Dunne, he read the following tribute to his mother. It was a perfect – and a classic –  and he’s allowing CTN to share it.)

Dedicated to Joanie Dunne and all the moms who have passed away— and will never, ever be forgotten.

 After raking in a wad of cash from my 750 aunts and uncles for my first communion in second grade, I went with my mom to make a deposit at our local bank.

My mom and I were standing at the teller’s window. This middle-aged guy, with a tie knot that was too big, asked my mom what her occupation was.

My mom, Joanie Dunne, said, “I’m just a housewife.” It was the just that hit me.

I chimed in, “She’s my mother.”

He gave me that smirky, condescending look where he was really saying, “You get a gold star for figuring that out.”

I didn’t have the confidence or permission or biceps to explain what I meant, so I just pulled out my money and put it on the counter.

It’s taken a long time to really know what I was trying to tell that man.

It’s taken a lifetime.

You get many dozens of years to experience hundreds of treasured moments that profoundly move you, that inspire you, that reinvent you.

You have dear, cherished, caring friends who know the real you, massage you, and fill you up at every harbor of your journey. Over a lifetime, you live in a number of places that ground you—creating springboards for your possibilities and relationships.

You become part of many groups, clubs, and activities that are comforting blankets to cook and shape the unique and evolving you.

As years go by, you visit so many places around the world, forever a re-reminder of nature’s banquet of what wonder and breadth mean.

But you have only one, only one, of maybe the most precious and elegant word in the world.

Mother.

The word from where love, and commitment, and giving were born.

Joanie Dunne

(Far right) Jimmy Dunne took eight Palisades residents, who have been displaced by the fire on a ride in the marina. The group saw seals, dolphins and birds. On the way back, Dunne read the story about his mother, Joanie which resonated with everyone on board.