Reba McEntire the country western singer reminds me of my mother, except my mother had black hair, a reserved manner, and a very dry Irish sense of humor that you'd miss if you weren't paying attention.
Mom was smart, too. The Navy picked her for its first elite class of women officers. She was joined by the mothers of my classmates Mark Doherty and Bob Henry.
She was a tremendously kind and sensitive person, and even though she disliked dogs, when we prevailed on her to let us have one and then neglected it, she took care of the dog and treated it like a third child.
She regretted having been young and at times unkind and kept repeating the story about the Callahan Tunnel. She'd been fixed up with a young soldier named Callahan for a night out with friends. She was tall, he was short and she refused when he asked her to dance. Callahan didn't survive the war. Later she couldn't have regretted more refusing to dance with him.
