LGBTQ news and entertainment
Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all those fabulous, wonderful women who teach and nurture us all.
Regular readers of The Randy Report know there are a few posts that I share annually. I originally wrote this in 2015.
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When I was young, people felt sad for me because my mother passed away when I was five years old. But the universe had another (maybe better?) plan for me. Continue reading “Happy Mother’s Day 2026”
L-R Bishop Carlye Hughes, me and Jackie Hughes
L-R Bishop Carlye Hughes, me and Jackie Hughes
Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all those fabulous, wonderful women who teach and nurture us all. Continue reading “Happy Mother’s Day 2022”
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska (via Twitter)
L-R Lisa Brescia, Christiane Noll, Jessica Phillips, and Jennifer Laura Thompson (screen capture)
Liz Callaway really scored with this Act One closer for the 1983 Broadway musical, Baby. The song takes place after Liz’s ‘pregnant for the first time’ character feels her baby kick for the very first time.
From Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant Into The Woods, Broadway icon Betty Buckley served up a show-stopping “Children Will Listen” backed by the Boys Choir of Harlem at the 1992 Carnegie Hall concert honoring Sondheim.
In the 1996 stage musical adaptation of the Tom Hanks hit film BIG, Barbara Walsh played the mother of the lead character who magically grows up and leaves home on an adventure. At the top of Act Two, the mom reflects on how quickly kids can grow up wishing she could ‘stop time’ for just a while.
Just like in life (I’m thinking my own life here), Broadway musical moms take many forms – aunts, godmothers, neighbors, even god-like forces like Mother Earth – who show up at the right moment to help us on our way. I loved the creative and oh-so-moving 2017 revival of Once On This Island. Alex Newell and company brought the house down nightly with this jubilant and earthy “Mama Will Provide.”
As I recently reported, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and theater producers have announced Broadway shows will begin reopening this September.
L-R Bishop Carlye Hughes, me and Jackie Hughes
Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all those fabulous, wonderful mothers who teach and nurture us all. When I was young, people felt sad for me because my mother passed away at a young age. But the universe had another (maybe better?) plan for me. Because so many women were sent my way to teach, support and love on me to bring me to here. I think wisdom greater than mine knew it would all be more than ok. This Mother’s Day is my first without Jackie Hughes, who I called “Mother” for over 30 years. She passed last summer and nothing will ever be the same. But what she gave me, and shaped in me, lives on. I loved the smile in Mother’s voice. When she said my name it was musical and lilting. “Rannn-dy.” She made me feel like I belonged. She was the center of the Hughes family. And we all knew it. 
Mother speaking at Carlye’s wedding reception after my toast
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| My birth mother, Joyce Ann Slovacek, back in 1958. You can see it, right…? |
It was a rumble at a Red Lobster restaurant when another ‘Karen’ lost her mind waiting for her order and slapped an employee. The term ‘Karen’ has become popular in the modern-day lexicon referring to “a strident middle-class white woman who talks down to people of color, usually in serving-staff positions.” According to the York Daily Record, a video posted to YouTube shows several employees forcibly removing the woman (who was not wearing a face mask) from the restaurant. As she attempts to push her way back inside, she loudly demands her “motherf**king money back.” With the patron outside, she continues to be unruly. The employees inside appear to be trying to find a way to solve the refund issue when suddenly the woman hauls off and slaps a female employee. And all hell breaks loose. Once the moment seems to be defused to some degree, the employees start to head back inside the building as the woman declares, “I was assaulted and have a whole crowd to see it.” The Daily Record reports Springettsbury Township Police were called at 4:26 p.m. to the location. Lt. Tony Beam told the newspaper, from what he could ascertain, “She was upset because her food wasn’t ready. She wanted her money refunded.” Beam went on to say that the customer was gone by the time officers arrived at the restaurant, but they spoke with her at a ‘nearby location.’ No charges have been filed in regard to the incident. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, patrons weren’t allowed inside the restaurant, only employees. Pick-up orders were to be brought out to customers on the sidewalk. One commenter on the YouTube page said a friend was there and all the orders were placed and pre-paid either through GrubHub or the Red Lobster app. While there was an hours-long backlog, customers who wanted a refund apparently had to make those requests using the apps as local staff wasn’t hooked up to do refunds. I’ve worked in the service industry, and it seems apparent from the unified front of the restaurant employees throughout the video, the woman must have been putting up quite stink inside. Plus, if she’s ordering Mother’s Day dinner from Red Lobster, she’s got bigger problems.
Nicole Bott, director of communications for Red Lobster, provided this statement regarding Sunday’s incident:
“We understand that we may have disappointed some of our guests on Mother’s Day when due to COVID-19 and changes to our operations and staffing, we were not able to keep up with the demand at some of our locations. We apologize that some of our guests experienced long wait times, crowds, and in some cases, did not receive their orders.
“It is always our goal to provide our guests with a great seafood experience, and unfortunately, for some guests, we did not meet that goal on Sunday. We are working to better understand what occurred and how we can prevent it occurring in the future.
“That said, we do not tolerate violence for any reason in our restaurants. We expect our team members treat our guests with respect, and we expect our guests to treat our team members with respect in return. We are grateful our Manager and the guest involved were not seriously injured in the incident on Sunday.”
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| Me with Carlye Hughes (L) and mother Jackie Hughes (R) I’ve called Jackie “mother” for over 30 years. I’m the lucky one. |
Regular readers of The Randy Report know there are a few posts that I share annually for special occasions.
This is one of them.
Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all those fabulous, wonderful mothers who teach and nurture us all.
When I was young, people felt sad for me because my mother passed away at a young age. But the universe had another plan for me.
Maybe better…?
Because so many women were sent my way to teach, support and love on me to bring me to here. I think wisdom greater than mine knew it would all be more than ok.
This Mother’s Day is my first without Jackie Hughes, who I called “Mother” for over 30 years. She passed last summer and nothing will ever be the same. But what she gave me and shaped in me lives on.
I loved the smile in Mother’s voice. When she said my name it was musical and lilting. “Rannn-dy.” She made me feel like I belonged. She was the center of the Hughes family. And we all knew it.
Memory: Mother was an expert shopper. EXPERT. She knew how to befriend all the ladies at Neiman Marcus so they would hide items she wanted until they went on serious sale. Double markdowns. Triple markdowns. Then she’d buy. And hide the dresses in the back of the closet for months.
When she’d finally wear them, Coach (Father Hughes was the winningest high school basketball coach in the history of the U.S. – once a coach, always a coach) might compliment her, asking if that was new. She’d reply – in perfect ‘Texan’ – “This? I’ve had it for months. But, thank you.” Always followed by a warm secret smile.
I never shared Mother’s passing last summer here on The Randy Report. I kept thinking I would, but nothing worthy came to mind.
Maybe, I’m still processing the loss. I don’t know.
Mothers give a lot of themselves. And give up a lot. Mother Hughes certainly gave me more than she ever knew.
So thank you to all the mothers out there – the women who make up more of us than we’ll ever understand.
“But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.”
― Mitch Albom, For One More Day
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| My birth mother, Joyce Ann Slovacek, back in 1958. Yeah, you can see it, right…? |
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| Me with Carlye Hughes (L) and mother Jackie Hughes (R) I’ve called Jackie “mother” for over 30 years. I’m the lucky one. |
Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all those fabulous, wonderful mothers who teach and nurture us all.
When I was young, people felt sad for me because my mother passed away at a young age. But the universe had another plan for me. Maybe better…? Because so many women were sent my way to teach, support and love on me to bring me to here. I think wisdom greater than mine knew it would all be more than ok.
This Mother’s Day is my first without Jackie Hughes, who I called “Mother” for over 30 years. She passed last summer and nothing will ever be the same. But what she gave me and shaped in me lives on.
How I loved the smile in Mother’s voice. When she said my name it was musical and lilting. “Ran-dy.” She made me feel like I belonged. She was the center of the Hughes family. And we all knew it.
Memory – Mother was an expert shopper. EXPERT. She knew how to befriend all the ladies at Neiman Marcus so they would hide items she wanted until they went on sale. Double markdowns. Triple markdowns. Then she’d buy. And hide the dresses in the back of the closet for months. When she’d finally wear them, Coach might compliment her, asking if that was new. She’d say – in perfect Texan – “This? I’ve had it for months. But thank you.” LOL
I never shared Mother’s passing last summer here on The Randy Report. I kept thinking I would, but nothing worthy came to mind.
Maybe I’m still processing the loss. I don’t know.
Mothers give a lot of themselves. And give up a lot. Mother Hughes certainly gave me more than she ever knew.
So thank you to all the mothers out there – the women who make up more of us than we’ll ever understand.
“But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.”
― Mitch Albom, For One More Day
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| My mother, Joyce Ann Slovacek, back in 1958. Yeah, you can see it, right…? |
This could just as well be my brother Gary and me.
Hysterical. Happy Mother’s Day!