By Brian Baiotto

Of the more than one thousand stories that I’ve written since 2000, none has been more important or meant more to me than this one.

And that’s because of the subject of this feature and what she’s all about.

I want to be as clear as possible that I’d never be arrogant or ignorant enough to say that my mom is a better person or mother than your own, but what I can say with great confidence is that she’s as good as anyone in both of those categories.

She has no idea that I’m putting this together, and the focus of this feature will likely cause her to be uncomfortable, because she’s always wanted the spotlight and/or love directed towards everyone else.

On the Fourth of July, our family will celebrate the 250th and 85th birthdays of our nation and our mother, Karen Baiotto.

She was born Karen Lee Reed in 1941 as the second of six children to Jeff and Ruth Reed.

In 1959, she graduated from Fife High School in Tacoma Washington.

Four years later, Ms. Reed, the only member of her large family to attend college, earned the accolade of Washington State University graduate in 1963.

Not too far into the future, she moved to California with a friend to embark upon a long career in education.

She literally had one job during her adult life.

Our mom became Karen Baiotto in August of 1968 after marrying a fellow member of the Glendora Unified School District, Paul Baiotto.

They combined to teach for 80 years in the GUSD.

He was at Goddard and Glendora High School, and she spent the brunt of her 45-year career at Carl Sandburg Middle School as a math teacher.

She also earned a master’s degree along the way.

Fast forward to 1970, and I was born.

Brad and Brent followed shortly thereafter in 1972 and 1973, respectively.

She was one of the most popular teachers I’ve ever known.

That has a lot to do with her passion in helping to educate Glendora’s youth, but it didn’t hurt that she’d tutor anyone after school for free, and she even helped a star high school athlete to stay eligible on her own time by meeting several times and getting him up to speed in his math class at GHS.

Towards the end of her career, she came home one day and I could see that something was wrong by way of her facial expression.

For the first time, a parent called and lodged a complaint at Sandburg, and she said, “one of my students doesn’t like me.”

It wasn’t that she wanted to be this girl’s buddy that bothered her, it was that she gave everything and more to every student that walked into her classroom, and she felt like she might have failed this young woman.

During our youth, our mom hardly ever missed a football or baseball game or one of Brad’s wrestling duals.

Along with Bob Waldman, she was integral in making the Glendora Tennis Championships an elite Southern California tournament that our dad founded when he was 18.

She served in so many capacities behind the scenes until the GTC ended some 40 years later.

She’s been a Dodger fan for over 50 years, and as hard as it is for this D-Back supporter to say, she’s understandably as true-blue as they come.

As great moms do, she roots for the success of her three boys, and that includes adopting the same teams that Brad, Brent and I love.

Perhaps none more frequently than my Duke Blue Devils.

Family has always come first.

She was also an outstanding wife.

Our father died five days after his 70th birthday in September of 2012.

She nursed him to the very end of his battle with cancer.

However, thanks to the 80 combined years of teaching and our dad’s ability to never waste a penny, our mom continues to be able to travel the United States and the world with her friends.

Most of those adventures take place on a ship.

She recently enjoyed a week in Cabo San Lucas, and in August, she’ll take a cruise in Germany with her brother-in-law and two of their friends.

Until recently, she regularly played tennis with friends.

However, she  continues to spend multiple days each week going to breakfast and dinner, as well as playing cards with her fellow octogenarians.

Her life is fulfilling and active thanks to her reciprocal relationship of love with her grown children, grandkids, siblings, friends and a faith in God.

I mentioned earlier in the story that she always puts others first.

Perhaps one of the better examples of that came on November 6th of 1988.

Back then, she was a staunch democrat, however, it was no secret to her that I was and continue to be a huge admirer of George HW Bush.

In my eyes, his decency, civility and character were far more important to me than his stances on political issues, and that old-school era where leaders on both sides fought about policy and not personality or hurling insults nonstop is something I miss to this day.

So, she came home one day in early November and said that a friend who was a member of law enforcement gave her a press pass to a Bush rally at Covina Park.

Not only did she take me, but my mom stood for hours surrounded by hundreds of people in a sparsely constructed area until GHWB’s helicopter landed and he gave his speech, which I watched from a better vantage point on a lift within the designated area secured for credentialed media.

Two days later, I voted for the first time, and happily watched him win 40 of the 50 states over Massachusetts governor, Michael Dukakis.

It wasn’t necessarily who she wanted to win, but she put me first.

Aside from being our dad’s caregiver, another monumental task she accomplished was keeping our immediate family together and sane during all six of Brad’s combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan for the United States Marine Corps.

He was one of the first 10 Americans to cross over from Kuwait into Iraq on his 31st birthday.

Brad was also awarded the Bronze Medal Star for successfully getting his and an Afghani battalion out of two life-or-death missions.

Needless to say, we were constantly on edge, especially when the phone rang at an odd hour.

Our dad didn’t live long enough to see Brad get promoted to Sergeant Major.

However, every member of my family flew to North Carolina to proudly witness the ceremony at Camp Lejeune.

After a three-decade career in the USMC, Brad is currently the Inspector General at Camp Lejeune, which is an accomplishment that our mom beams about.

On the way to North Carolina, we took an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Raleigh-Durham in spite of Brad living nearly three hours from RDU.

It allowed me to visit somewhere that I had never been.

And I’ve often imagined how crazy we must have looked to the locals as we gave ourselves a self-tour of the beautiful campus at Duke University at 5:45 in the morning and with half of  the visit taking place in the dark.

We also drove to Las Vegas several years back to watch Duke take on UNLV at the T-Mobile Arena.

Late in the contest, and with the Blue Devils leading by more than 50 points, I asked my mom if she wanted to leave a little early to avoid traffic coming out of the packed parking structure.

Her answer: “No, I don’t want to miss anything.”

Along with being a great sister, wife, mom, aunt, mother-in-law, friend and teacher, Karen Baiotto is a fantastic grandmother.

She adores Brad and Amy’s four kids and Brent and Sarah’s son and daughter.

Brad helped Amy raise her two son’s, Matt and Zach, early in their lives.

And just like Brad, she has never once thought of them or treated/loved Matt and Zach as anything less than biological family.

She officially became a grandma for the first time in 1997 when Brad and Amy had Maddison, and several years later, and while her daddy was fighting in Iraq, Reagan entered the world.

Matt, Zach, Maddie and Reagan are all college graduates, they’re married, and in a couple of months, Maddie will join her brothers and sister in becoming a parent.

Maddison (swimming) and Reagan (soccer) both competed at the NCAA Division 1 level at Campbell University.

Maddie earned her doctorate in her mid-20’s and Reagan graduated college in less than four years.

She’s currently prepping to launch a career in the medical field.

Brent and Sarah have a daughter named Lauren who attends Auburn, and Ethan just finished his freshman season as a pitcher for the University of Tennessee.

She’s been to every high school and college graduation, as well as each wedding rehearsal and baby shower.

All of which took place in either North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas or San Clemente.

She’s traveled across the state and country to root for each of her grandkids in their youth, high school and college careers.

She’s a devout Christian, but my mom has never jammed her bible down anyone’s throat.

And she doesn’t look down on or think any less of someone who doesn’t share her faith or any faith at all.

Karen Baiotto treats everyone like family, including the friends that Brad, Brent and I have made over all these years.

It’s that same faith that has guided her to donate thousands of dollars over the years to complete strangers in need who will never know her name or have the ability to thank her for her Godly generosity.

She spends most Thanksgivings in North Carolina with Brad and Amy, and she’s almost always at Brent and Sarah’s home in Texas for Christmas.

The joy she feels whilst spending time with both of their families has been nothing short of priceless.

While she celebrates holidays and time with their families, my mom and I bond over music and sports.

We’ve probably spent more time at concerts than most mother-son duo’s.

The long list includes seeing the Eagles nearly 10 times, as well as Elton John, Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, the Eurythmics, Garth Brooks, Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper, Phil Collins, Sting, Chicago, Reo Speedwagon, Don Henley, Neil Diamond, Toto and Journey.

And without her, I’d never have been able to launch my biggest passion, the 210 Prep Sports website, which takes up nearly all my time and it includes covering 35 high schools and four JC’s mostly along the 210 Freeway from Rancho Cucamonga to Pasadena.

As mentioned, we went and saw Duke in Las Vegas, and three months ago, we were at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood watching former Duke superstar Cooper Flagg play for Dallas against the Clippers on my birthday.

Five years ago or so, I told her if she went somewhere to watch something I like, I’ll go somewhere she enjoys or finds meaningful.

So, one day after Wrestlemania concluded at SoFi Stadium, here she was inside the Staples Center watching WWE Monday Night Raw with me.

She said it was more enjoyable than she was expecting it to be.

Her only request was for me to attend her church, so I did on Christmas Eve.

This past week, she was in North Carolina at Maddie’s baby shower, and they did their own birthday celebration while she was there.

She’s currently on the east coast and she’ll take in her 85th birthday with Brent’s family watching Ethan pitch in the Cape Cod League.

Of all the things I appreciate about my mom, the most meaningful is her willingness to always be proud of me in spite of objectively not having any reason to.

Brad and Brent are accomplished in their careers and they’ve raised terrific children, and married strong, independent and loving wives.

I don’t have a lot on my resume that would ever compare with their achievements, but I do attempt daily to make her feel safe, loved and looked after.

Just as in any family, my siblings and I don’t necessarily agree on everything, but we are steadfastly in unison that we’re the luckiest three boys in the world for having Karen Baiotto as our mom.

Happy 85th and many more, momma!

You are deeply loved.

Quotable:

Former teacher & one of Karen’s best friend’s, Eileen Oros: “Karen is (and has been) a wonderful friend for over 30 years. She is the most kind and thoughtful person I know. I have known Karen since my first days of teaching at Sandburg Middle School. I always thought of her as a mentor. She was loved and well respected by both her colleagues and students alike. Her patience, passion, and dedication for teaching made her the extremely successful teacher that she was.”

Karen’s first-born grandchild, Maddison: “Happy Birthday, grandma! I hope this year is chock-full of fun and adventures. You have always been someone I aspire to be like. I have so many cherished childhood memories of spending the night at your house, going to tennis with you, swimming in the pool, and playing Rummikub together. I am so blessed to have a grandma who has been such a constant presence in my life, even after we moved all the way across the country. Thank you for always making the effort to stay connected with us and for celebrating every achievement and milestone along the way. Your fun-loving, easygoing spirit is such a joy to be around. I am so grateful whenever people tell me I remind them of you. That’s one of the greatest compliments I could receive. I love you soooo much! Happy 85th Birthday!

Karen’s granddaughter, Lauren: “She is the best grandma that I could have asked for. I love how I can be completely myself around her and she makes me feel so loved. She has been so supportive through every part of my life and I could not have asked for a better grandma! I always love cracking jokes with her and how she can give it right back to me. I love you, grandma.”

Karen’s grandson, Ethan: “KB has meant a lot to me. She has always supported me even when we moved to Texas. She has always made a point to come and see us -which is always the best time of the year. I love how she is always so kind and loving even when it’s not easy to be. She is very patient and smart as well. I love you, grandma.”

The following are members of her family and friends wishing her a happy 85th birthday.