"Hers was an easy birthday."

The above quote is from a NYT Modern Love column about the columnist's mother. Horses were her passion, and so "Hers was an easy birthday." Life is much easier for those shopping for you when you have a passion. It's a sweet column about his mom's love for her horses, his father's supportive role through doing chores, and the time and energy that goes into keeping horses. When some horses are stolen from the farm, his mom launches into a multi-pronged media and print effort to recover them; she even posts on www.netposse.com. The horses are recovered!

I love Modern Love columns because they're not always about romantic love. The focus of this column was initially the mom's passion for horses, but taking one step back, it's also about the son's admiration for his mom's devotion. And the story is of course told through the lens of a child's love for his mother. It also reminded me of my friend's fiance. When thanking guests for their attendance at their engagement party, he remarked how easy it was to love my friend. That's always stuck with me.

The author of the column is Brandon Lawniczak, he's a lawyer in Chicago.