Just got through editing our annual reader submissions for our Mother’s Day tribute. I love pulling together this package every year. It reminds me of how special Moms are, and how much I love my own mother. I also get a real kick out of the essays Pat McLaughlin’s third-grade students write. Kids never fail to crack me up. I’m the goofy uncle who riles up the kids at the family gatherings — enough so that I’m now admonished beforehand to rein it in a bit. It’s tough, though. I can’t help it. Something about the enthusiasm of kids brings out the kid in me and pretty soon I’m running wild too.

Anyway, I want to get in on the act too and offer up my own tribute to my Mom this year.

(READ MORE…)

Hi Paul!

OK, sorry, had to get the obligatory AA joke out of the way. But it’s true. I’ve been a political junkie since I was in grade school and got my first paper route. I quickly learned that I would have to get up an hour-and-a-half early because I couldn’t get the paper route done in time. Why? Because I couldn’t stop the compulsion to read both Chicago dailies. I probably knew more about the mayor’s race when I was in fifth grade than my parents.

(READ MORE…)

(READ MORE…)