I arrived in Concord, California. My mother’s kid sister came from out of state to celebrate. You can see the love in my mother’s face as she helped her sister hold me.

It was about that time Mom and Dad contemplated buying an acre of land in a newly developed area called Mill Valley. The plot was covered with large redwoods and overlooked San Francisco Bay. It was exorbitantly priced at $1,500—at least, it seemed exorbitant to my parents at the time.

I have grandkids now. An acre of ground in Mill Valley goes for about $1.5M. My mother is still alive, and she still loves me. Sometimes I made that difficult, but she never made it feel that way.

The greatest gift my mother gave me, even more than life itself, is the knowledge that she has always loved me.

Give that gift to someone.