In honor of Mother’s Day today, lots of you are probably taking Mom out to dinner, buying her flowers, giving her sweet, sappy cards covered in cursive writing and glitter.

Remembering my mom, I give you a bad karaoke of Friends in Low Places.
Why?

My mother was a woman who loved country music and her local dive bar, Snip and Dales.
When she was in the hospital dying of cancer, she said that after her funeral, she wanted me to write a $1,000 check to her little watering hole to offer an open bar to friends and family following the church service.

At a place like Snips, $1,000 goes a long way. I think beers were something like three bucks and mixed drinks were about the same, so dozens of us hung out there for many hours working to put a dent in Mom’s bar tab.

As day turned to evening, the bar’s karaoke night started up. At first, I bristled and wondered why they couldn’t have canceled karaoke for the week, seeing as how we’d taken over the entire bar for the day with my mom’s wake.

Then I’m pretty sure it was my cousin Ed who suggested that my cousins and I do a song for my mom. Drunk and grieving, but happy to be together, we all sang what I’m sure was a terrible but deeply heartfelt version of Friends in Low Places.

Hanging out in the little dive my mom loved, it felt like a perfect sendoff.

So I’m probably the only person getting misty about a barroom singalong today, but Mom, this one’s for you:

Related blog posts about losing a mother:

• Guest blogger Lisa G.: My mother’s death changed my life for the better
• If someone you love died today, would you have regrets?
• Mother’s Day can be a challenge when you’ve lost your mom