{"id":15037,"date":"2012-07-26T16:33:45","date_gmt":"2012-07-26T16:33:45","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-05-07T17:20:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T21:20:53","slug":"ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/","title":{"rendered":"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Something happened that got me thinking about my mother. What kind of crazy world is it where a crazy person can abduct the mother of Cal Ripken Jr. and drive around in his car with her tied up in the backseat? Cal Ripken Jr.\u2019s mom was abducted, and this guy that took her didn\u2019t know who she was. He went and got her fast food, and he also got her cigarettes. If they ever find him, that\u2019s what they\u2019re gonna charge him for, no doubt, is giving her cigarettes. Her name is Violet, and her husband, Cal Ripken Sr., labored forever in the minor leagues and finally got his promotion to coach and manager in the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles. She survived as surrogate mother to all those minor league players that came through when her husband was a manager.<\/p>\n

Now, the reason this struck home to me, it\u2019s a different world. Those of you who have been listening to this program since the beginning will no doubt remember my mother and her numerous appearances on this program and on the television show. She was the queen of the blue-haired Bloody Mary gang, as I called her and her friends. But I lived in mortal fear that something like that would happen to her all the time. Now, we grew up in a little town in Missouri, and when this program first started and was just building, it was the kind of white-hot, popular, associated-with-something-new, unique, everybody glomming on to it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

People driving through southeast Missouri would pull off I-55, drive in to Cape Girardeau, and look up my mother. They\u2019d go by the house and she\u2019d let \u2019em in! Thankfully, every one of \u2019em was a solid, upstanding citizen fan. Folks, I\u2019ll tell you, I got so mad one day. It got to the point, I\u2019d go home to visit my mother and I\u2019d get there, there would be 150 books stacked up on the table in the dining room that she\u2019d collected from people who had been sending \u2019em in. I said, “Mother, I\u2019m coming here to get away from this.”<\/p>\n

“No, son, these people love you. They sent me those books, and you\u2019ve gotta sign \u2019em so I can send them back.”<\/p>\n

I said, “I\u2019m not gonna have time to talk to you.”<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s okay. You have to pay attention to these people.”<\/p>\n

The fact that people all over the country loved her little boy just was the greatest thing that ever happened to her. And everybody that met Millie loved her, too. (interruption) Well, they tried to see my grandfather. He was a little bit more difficult to reach. Folks, my mother invited the National Enquirer in to have coffee when they came by. “Son, we\u2019re Limbaughs, we got nothing to hide. If they want to see your draft records, I\u2019ll be glad to show \u2019em to you.” She did that. The Enquirer reporter said, “I can\u2019t believe this.” Of course, I don\u2019t know about any of this until it\u2019s over. And I said, “Mother, look, this is my business. You can\u2019t be injecting yourself.” “No, no, son.” I was always the son. I never knew what was good for me. I never knew the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

<\/a>I remember I got so mad one day when I finally had to start flying privately just for the privacy and the security of it. She\u2019d pick me up at the airport and I\u2019d spend the weekend and on Sunday she\u2019d take me back to the airport. Well, one Sunday she was behaving extremely different, eager for me to leave. Normally wasn\u2019t the case. Kept reminding me I had to get to the airport. And I said, “Well, I\u2019m just standing by at noon.”<\/p>\n

“No, you really should get there a little earlier, \u2019cause you never know, the weather.”<\/p>\n

“No, the weather\u2019s fine, I\u2019ve checked it.”<\/p>\n

She said, “By the way, I\u2019ll meet you out there. I\u2019ve gotta go do some things, so I\u2019ll just meet you at the airport. David can take you.”<\/p>\n

“Oh, okay.”<\/p>\n

So David came, picked me up, we drive to the airport, we drive up to the airplane, and I can see immediately there\u2019s her car, and there\u2019s another car, and I look in the windows of the airplane, there\u2019s a bunch of people in there. And David will tell you, I slammed the door on his car so loud I nearly broke it. I got on the airplane, and she had four people she didn\u2019t know who had stopped in the week prior to say hello, and she\u2019d invited \u2019em back to meet me and hadn\u2019t told me. They\u2019re big fans, and she hadn\u2019t told me any of this, and they\u2019re on the airplane. I get on the airplane and there\u2019s these four people that I don\u2019t know, and there\u2019s no way that this could happen today.<\/p>\n

But when I see that Cal Ripken\u2019s mother was abducted, I lived in mortal fear that that was gonna happen to my mother every day. I mean, people would stop in from all parts of the country. My grandfather\u2019s 102nd birthday. She invited people that stopped in that day. And I see Cal Ripken\u2019s mother\u2019s kidnapping or abduction, and it just got me thinking how fortunate it was that never happened. It\u2019s a testament to the people in this audience, too, because there aren\u2019t people in this audience of the type who would go abduct somebody\u2019s mother, which was very, very fortunate. But she was just so proud that the people of this country loved her little boy. If they called her or if they wrote her a letter, or if they sent her a book of mine to sign, they were king and queen, and she wanted to make sure that they knew that our family appreciated \u2019em.<\/p>\n

\"\"I think a couple of \u2019em even spent the night with her once in the guest room, a couple from St. Louis. (interruption) Well, no, when I got on the airplane I could not cover my anger. I mean that\u2019s a breach. I remember, I didn\u2019t talk to her for two months after that, on purpose. I had to send a message. That\u2019s exactly right. (laughing) I had to put a stop to it. No, it didn\u2019t work. Didn\u2019t work. ‘Cause even then I didn\u2019t know what I was doing. I was always the little boy who didn\u2019t know what he was doing.<\/p>\n

Or I didn\u2019t know what was best for me. I didn\u2019t know what I was doing. Anyway, she was a total class act. I just think about how, as I say, Cal Ripken\u2019s mother was abducted by some wacko. He was driving around with her tied up in the backseat of the car. And because my mother made herself so accessible, so desirous of it, it\u2019s just a stroke of luck that something like that didn\u2019t happen. You know, we grew up in an age where we didn\u2019t lock the doors. We didn\u2019t have suspicion of the neighbors. There are still pockets of the country where people can live like that, but they\u2019re not very many.<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s the kind of world that Cal Ripken\u2019s mom grew up in, and that\u2019s probably why this happened to her in a way because she doesn\u2019t think about it. The era in which she grew up, mentoring and being surrogate mother to all these minor league players that came through town, she was probably somebody who saw the best in everybody. That\u2019s what was, I guess, the characteristic about my mom. She saw the best in everybody — except me, as her son. (laughing) I\u2019m just kidding. It was quaint, you know, how no matter what I did I still — at times, in certain things — didn\u2019t know what was best for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Something happened that got me thinking about my mother. What kind of crazy world is it where a crazy person can abduct the mother of Cal Ripken Jr. and drive around in his car with her tied up in the backseat? Cal Ripken Jr.\u2019s mom was abducted, and this guy that took her didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRipken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Something happened that got me thinking about my mother. What kind of crazy world is it where a crazy person can abduct the mother of Cal Ripken Jr. and drive around in his car with her tied up in the backseat? Cal Ripken Jr.\u2019s mom was abducted, and this guy that took her didn\u2019t […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushMom.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GeorgePrayias\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushMom.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushMom.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/\",\"name\":\"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-26T16:33:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-07T21:20:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4\",\"name\":\"GeorgePrayias\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GeorgePrayias\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/GeorgePrayias\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Something happened that got me thinking about my mother. What kind of crazy world is it where a crazy person can abduct the mother of Cal Ripken Jr. and drive around in his car with her tied up in the backseat? Cal Ripken Jr.\u2019s mom was abducted, and this guy that took her didn\u2019t […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushMom.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GeorgePrayias","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushMom.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/RushMom.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/","name":"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2012-07-26T16:33:45+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-07T21:20:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/07\/26\/ripken_story_stirs_memory_of_my_mother\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ripken Story Stirs Memory of My Mother"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4","name":"GeorgePrayias","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GeorgePrayias"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/GeorgePrayias\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15037"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396585,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15037\/revisions\/396585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}