She gives you life.

Then she helps you build it.

Once you’re on your own, she supplements it.

That’s just what mothers do.

It’s been nice going through life knowing my mom’s on my side and there when I need her.

Like in Little League.

When I’m standing at the plate as a childhood rival, pitching for the other team, plunks me in the leg with a pitch. I glare at him and I hear mom yell from the bleachers: “You go to first base!”

The pitcher hits me a second time. As I take one step toward the mound, I hear mom: “You go to first base!”

I get hit a third time, shake my head, start walking toward first base and I hear mom: “That’s three times! You get him!”

I charge the mound, tackle the pitcher, both benches empty and my mother gets banned from Little League.

Mom had my back.

Like at a Steeler game.

I was 13 and someone gave us two tickets to a game against Green Bay at Three Rivers Stadium. It was snowing hard, temperature in single digits, windy ... nobody else wanted to go.

I wanted to go. My mother took me.

We sat in the upper deck behind an end zone. I was drinking a Coke. My mother was shivering.

The guy sitting next to her handed mom his whiskey flask.

He said: “Lady, you need this more than I do.”

Mom had my back.

Like at college graduation.

My younger brother was graduating high school the same day. My mom and sister drove four hours to see me graduate from Ohio University.

As I rode home with my sister in a non-air conditioned truck, my mother wanted air conditioning. She drove my 1965 Pontiac Star Chief home with the air conditioning stuck on its coldest level.

After four hours in the truck, my sister and I were sweating bullets.

My mother was turning blue.

Mom had my back.

Like when buying a house.

My wife Darlene and I were looking to buy our first home on a limited budget. I was working in Steubenville, Ohio.

My mother works in real estate.

She found us a house for an incredibly discounted price. We sold that home 10 years later for nearly twice the price we paid for it.

Mom had our backs.

Like landing a job.

When I was looking for another newspaper position, my mother noticed an ad for the sports editor position at the Butler Eagle.

The rest is history.

If you like me, thank her.

If you dislike me, it’s her fault I’m here.

Either way, Mom had my back.

She’s in her high 80s now and still has her real estate license. Why?

She wants to keep having people’s backs. That’s who she is.

Happy Mother’s Day!

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle