Besides a ton of practice, it started when my mom would come into my bed late at night. She would do the dinner shift at the strip club and I’d be almost asleep by the time she came home.

She would put her hand on my head and stroke it gently and tell stories of when she was a young girl. It was our secret time together to laugh and tell jokes. She had a nice perfume from Macy’s that still lingered and she would ask me about school this and that.

It lasted until I was about 12 and we were too big to share a bed, but I still think she taught me more than she realized.