Long, long ago, in a time that scientists call "the 1970s," my mother took a clerical job at Boston University.  Using her employee benefits, she managed to get me free to discounted tuition there, essentially putting me through college all the way to a Masters Degree with her hard work.  I wouldn't be who I am today or where I am today if not for her hard work.

Now get this - I'm the oldest of four children, and she stayed at BU and provided that tuition benefit to each and every one of us, who all used it to various ends.  

And she stayed on even longer, helping her children out in times of financial hardships, emotional distress, and illness, through divorces and breakups and job losses and crises.  She kept on working, year after year, decade after decade, most recently sending most of her hard-earned paychecks to my single-mother sister on the west coast to help her make ends meet.  

She kept on working, well past the usual retirement age, until the age of 82, when the university finally intervened and told her this week that "enough's enough."  Her only regret about leaving was that she couldn't send any more money to her grandchildren.

The Buddha pointed to "parental mind" as an example of selfless loving-kindness.  I think my Mom could have taught the Buddha a lesson or two.