Christopher’s Angle – Dec 2023/Jan 2024
My mother, Amy Todd Kranenburg, is amazing. This month, I want to share just a few examples of why my mother is such an important part of my life. If you have not already been into the Happy Alpaca toy store on California Street, my mom’s toy store in Jacksonville, I would encourage you to swing by. In fact, you can see it now by looking at the cover of this edition of the Jacksonville Review.
Jacksonville was blessed to have a toy store for decades, and my mom saw the importance of continuing that tradition, while at the same time, transforming the building and store into her vision of a place to enrich the lives of children and their families. Many people may not realize that my mom is an attorney, and she practiced as a corporate litigator. But she retired when my older brother was born and dedicated herself to raising me and my brothers and to building up her community.
She was PTO president at Jacksonville Elementary, has served on boards for health care, community theater, and higher education, and has spent countless hours on advocacy and fundraising efforts to help members of our Southern Oregon community. The love and work she has poured into Happy Alpaca are just a tiny reflection of all the time she has committed to me.
My soccer season just wrapped up, and my mom was our team’s biggest fan. She traveled to all our games in far-flung places like Lost River and Lakeview. She made giant posters of my head and those of my teammates to hold in our home playoff game. We don’t get much of an audience, but she invited a lot of people to come cheer us on. We ended up winning and going to the next round. She hasn’t just touched my heart but also the heart of the team and the coaches.
I have written a lot about music in my other articles, and I can confidently say I would not have the musical experience or love for music that I currently have without my mom’s influence. If it wasn’t for her, I would never have picked up a microphone, let alone go on to do many musical theater productions. My mom’s love of music, and especially musical theater, has imprinted on me and my brothers. Whenever there is something to do around the house, we always first find a good song, musical, or album to play to make it more fun.
I could go on and on about how much I love my mom, but no number of words would suffice. My mom has shaped who I have become.
Christopher is a Senior at St. Mary’s High School and a graduate of Jacksonville Elementary School. He’s an accomplished musical theater student, a dedicated, multi-sport athlete…he’s also a big and little brother and has been composing creative stories and graphic novels since he could hold a pencil.