Lessons Learned from Mom

Bill Long · May 10, 2023

With Mother’s Day in May, it’s a great time to reflect on the influence that mothers have on their families. This year Mother’s Day is especially important to me because my daughter-in-law will soon be a mother for the first time!

My mother and father both worked full time when I was growing up, so I had a lot of responsibilities. I was kind of in charge of myself and my twin brothers after school. We had neighbors close by in case of emergency, but I was responsible for getting us home from the bus stop and into the house. My mom’s positive qualities were a model that inspired me to become the best version of myself. She would come home from work around 4 p.m. and get us to football practice or wherever we needed to be. She’d have dinner ready when we got back home, help us with homework, and get us in the shower before bed. She would talk to me at night and see how my day was and let me talk about whatever I wanted to talk about, all the while providing encouragement and support. As I grew older, she was the one who waited up when I was out with friends. After my football games in high school, I would always go out to dinner with my mother, and we would just sit and talk about things—football, girls, going to college, anything and everything. It was her work ethic and genuine interest in all things that I did that created such a good foundation for me.  

We didn’t have many material things growing up, so I had to learn that there was a choice that you had to make with how you spent your money. There were times when we struggled and didn’t have things that others may have had. Sometimes my mother and father wouldn’t eat dinner until after all the kids ate to make sure that we had enough first. As a parent now myself, I understand that sacrifices are often made for your kids, always wanting them to be better than you, to have things you didn’t have.

All that leads me to this—we are going through some tough times in our country right now. Inflation is running hot. The costs of things right now are out of control. Families must make choices about where they spend their money even more now than in what I’d call more normal times. I think back on lessons learned when I was young … remembering to save, knowing that you must stick to a budget, and writing it down to make it feel more real. I still do that to this day!  

I feel great about the work that we do at On the Road Lending. We provide opportunities for families to have access to affordable and reliable transportation. This helps families in so many ways. It gives them access to better healthcare, better food choices, better school opportunities, and access to higher paying jobs simply because a vehicle gives them freedom to get to more places more efficiently. The money that families save getting a loan with us provides them with more discretionary income to use on things that matter to them. Every dollar matters—especially in tough times.

I want to wish all the mothers out there a happy Mother’s Day. Be sure to tell your mom how much she means to you!