1. Never follow a recipe. My mom is the best cook I know. Common to other greats, she doesn’t follow a recipe and continually innovates. For example, have you ever heard of pickled chicken or wilted lettuce? Exactly, my two favorites.
2. People watching is great entertainment. My mom can watch people for hours on end. Try it, it actually is pretty fun–especially with large crowds.
3. Give back. My moms spends multiple days a week at the church: cooking, teaching Sunday school, and giving back.
4. Pursue your dreams. If I called my mom tomorrow and said that I think I’m going to be the next Michael Jordan, she’d say: “go for it, I think you can." Even better, she’d actually believe it, and give me all the support she could.
5. Be friendly and talk to people. My mom will talk to anyone that gives her a chance. As a result, she makes people smile, departs airplanes with new found friends, and receives as many Christmas cards as the North Pole.
6. Laugh. My mom loves to laugh. She likes to laugh at other people, she loves to laugh at my dad, and, most importantly, she can laugh at herself.
7. Embrace your age. Some people dread birthdays. Not my mom. You can’t count the number of 60th birthday parties she’s been thrown on 1 hand and a couple more are in the works. She also told the Mayor he needs to name a “Sally Corbin Day" in honor of her 60th. In her own words:"it’s silly to worry about how old you are."
8. Make a Home. There is a big difference between a house and a home. My mom is the master of making a home. The Corbin house was a home away from home for all of my childhood friends. My mom welcomed everyone with open arms, as long as they followed the rules (see #9).
9. Have rules. In my mom’s presence you don’t: wear a cap inside, come to the breakfast table without a shirt on, lie, steal, cheat, quit, or pass gas. She has rules that she’s always followed and will continue to follow.
10. Be blessed. When you ask my mom about her life she’ll say: “I’m so blessed." What makes my mom blessed is not her life, it’s that she spiritually believes she’s blessed. What you think, is what you become.
Happy 60th Birthday Mom, and Thank you for everything!