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Glurge: Deceased mother finds a way to tell her son what their last dinner together meant to her.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005]
Origins: This story first appeared as a newsgroup post in November 2005 and has landed in the snopes.com inbox many times since then. While the item is lacking in checkable facts (no names, dates, or locations are given) and is therefore not subject to being vetted or disproved, it is clear that whatever its veracity may be, there is something in the tale itself that resonates with The moral of the story about a final dinner shared by mother and son is that praiseworthy tasks should be performed in the here and now rather than put off for some later date. The narrative drives home its message by having the mother die shortly after her evening with her son, thereby underscoring the lesson that "someday" doesn't always come — that the people we always promised ourselves we'd find time to be nice to don't always live long enough to see it. "Follow the dutiful son's example and act now," says the tale, "lest for you and yours tomorrow not come." The cyber-circulated version of this tale is a shortened form of a piece that appeared in Reader's Digest in 1995, and that a condensed version of a longer article from Woman's Day. This David Farrell story, titled "That 'Other Woman' in My Life," does not, however, conclude with the death of the mother; instead, that one dinner works to form the basis of ongoing interaction between them which itself works to further enrich the writer's life. Here is how it ended in Reader's Digest, picking up from the point in the story where the son tells his wife he'd enjoyed his evening with his mother more than he'd thought he would (which occurs just before the "died of a massive heart attack" section in the online version):
Mom and I go out for dinner a couple of times a month. Sometimes we take in a movie, but mostly we talk. I tell her about my trials at work and brag about the kids and Peggy.
In 2006 someone thought to reposition the Internet-circulated piece's message about the importance of doing good things before it's too late into an "in praise of mothers" offering by appending this coda:
Mom fills me in on family gossip and tells me about her past. Now I know what it was like for her to work in a factory during World We also talk about the future. Because of health problems, my mother worries about the days ahead. "I have so much living to do," she told me once. "I need to be there while my grandchildren grow up. I don't want to miss any of it." Like many baby boomers, I tend to fill my calendar to the brim as I struggle to fit family, career and friendships into my life. I often complain about how quickly time flies. Spending time with my mom has taught me the importance of slowing down. Peggy was right. Dating another woman has helped my marriage.
Somebody said it takes about 6 weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby . . .
Another similar glurge piece concludes with the literary device of having the sympathetic figure who died leave a special gift for the other character in the story, with said item teaching a lesson in love. While in the above tale the deceased mother leaves a prepaid restaurant bill for her son and his wife, in Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "normal" is history. Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct . . . Somebody never took a 3-year-old shopping. Somebody said being a mother is boring . . . Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit. Somebody said good mothers never raise their voices . . . Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window. Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother . . . Somebody never helped a 4th grader with his math. Somebody said you can't love the 5th child as much as you love the first . . . Somebody doesn't have 5 children. Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books . . . Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears. Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery . . . Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back . . . Somebody never organized 7 giggling Brownies to sell cookies. Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married . . . Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son- or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings. Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home . . . Somebody never had grandchildren. Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her . . . Somebody isn't a mother. Pass this along to all the "mothers" in your life. Barbara "she gave him the bird" Mikkelson Last updated: 13 May 2007 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by snopes.com. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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