As Mother’s Day approaches this Sunday, can you name your favorite Mother’s Day song?
Let me take you back to around 1976. On any typical day, you would never find me too far from a radio. All I needed were batteries and me and the man in the box. Most of the time my “box” was tuned to The Voice of the Bladen Lakes, 1440AM WBLA Elizabethtown, North Carolina. If I remember correctly, the man behind the microphone was Bob Krokel. Then again it may have been Buddy Edwards. I could be wrong. What I am certain of is that the man in the box played a song that for many years meant so much to my Mother.
When I think of all the things that my Mother did, there’s no way I could ever repay her. The song that played on the radio that day was at least, a good start. The name of the song was “I.O.U.” The artist was Jimmy Dean. Yes, that Jimmy Dean, whose name is on some of our favorite breakfast items.
It took me a few weeks to buy my own copy of “I.O.U.” If you go way back, you may remember the department store Clarks in Lumberton. Let me tell you, I could not wait to get home and play the song for Mom. I did and I am so blessed to remember that moment. “I.O.U.” is a five minute long song and at the end, Mom turned to me, with tears streaming down her face and gave me the best and possibly the longest hug ever.
In 1985, I landed my first full-time job in radio. From that year to the year 2013, the year my Mom went to Heaven, I never missed a chance to play “I.O.U.” every Mother’s Day.
So, may I give you a gift this Mother’s Day 2022? Give a listen to Jimmy Dean’s “I.O.U.”
