Hello, Readers! I have not posted in a very long time. Partly, because I have had writer’s block; partly, because my laptop keeps breaking; and mostly, because my emotions have been so raw that I didn’t want to see them in print. However, today is a great day. Today is Mother’s Day! Despite the rain and dampness, which doesn’t do my body any good, I am in a good mood. My mom went to church this morning, but left me a Mother’s Day card. She has done this for at least the past 15 years, despite the fact that I have never had a child. This one was a picture of Golden Retriever dog with a bunch of cute puppies on the cover. The inside was a list of so many pets and kids that I have nurtured and cared for, and she wrote that I am a “Mommy.” My first instinct would be to argue, disparaging myself. But, then I remembered how I spent last night in the basement, comforting our Buckeye, who is terrified of storms. I also got a visit from a Husky puppy, he licked my face and cuddled with me, then curled up next to me, the three of us spooning while I tried to find a comfortable position on a very firm mattress.
I remember when I worked on a Mother’s Day while living in CA. My manager was asking a woman why she was shopping, instead of spending time with her mom. She wouldn’t stop asking her, until the woman told her that her mother had just passed away. I still remember it, because I couldn’t spend time with my mom that day, because she was in Kalamazoo. I wanted to, believe me. I missed my mom very much.
“My mom has always been there for me;’ such a cliché. In my case, I did have that mom. She was my Brownie, Girl Scout, Youth Group(s), bowling, etc. leader. When I was in band at Comstock High School, an entire section of the band would yell, “Hey, Mom!” when she walked by our section of the bleachers. She hosted every slumber party, drove me to school on the countless times I missed the bus (a frequent occurrence when she would be back in bed already) and would be the one to bring snacks at a moment’s notice, or whip up a batch of cookies when I forgot it was someone’s birthday in class. She has a unique way of making everyone smile, and her sunny personality is so infectious! I don’t know how she knows about everyone’s lives, even if she hasn’t seen them in a decade, but she can tell me their life history at the drop of a hat. She also makes a great tour guide; because, whenever you are in the car with her, she cannot help pointing out peoples’ homes and businesses when she passes by, even if you don’t know who it is she knows! lol She seems to know everyone.
One of my favorite ‘Mary Moments’ is when I lived in CA. I lived there about 4 years, in total. Never saw anyone I knew. She comes out to visit on Thanksgiving Day. I take her to Santa Cruz boardwalk, and the first person she sees, she knows. Shocker. She and I can be our own comedy team, especially in the car. She will make an absurd comment, and I will over exaggerate the sarcasm, until we go back and forth and start laughing at ourselves. I feel so blessed to be her daughter, but she can be really hard to follow! lol She goes off on these random tangents in her mind; and then start talking about a totally odd subject out loud. I look at her like, ‘what the heck are you talking about?’ I tell her that her thoughts must be really loud!
A prime example is when we were in the car together, riding in silence. She says, “I just don’t think I want to be a police officer any more these days.” Huh? (Luckily, I had noticed a police car on a side street that was giving someone a citation.) I looked at her and said, “Do you realize what you just said? ” Of course, she thought she had said something sane and logical. We went back and forth, because she was so sure she was making sense. After ten minutes of this, she finally huffed in frustration, saying, “Why can’t you hear what I just meant?!?!” This is now our code for any similar conversations now, and so fun to recall!
I have seen my mom do so many wonderful things for so many people. We have had our special times, and made wonderful memories! We went to 42 states before I graduated high school, and most of them were because she would get ‘cabin fever,’ pack my brother and sister and I in the van without waking us, still in our ‘footsie pajamas,’ and we would wake up to eat at Big Boy-in Kentucky. It has happened so many times, and we have had so many stories.
Today, my brother organized a Mother’s Day meal at our cousins’ restaurant, Theo & Stacy’s. We were able to see Stacy and Phyllis, which was wonderful. Although they were busy, they were able to serve all of us with ease and a friendly smile, as always. I was so happy to see my family, and our extended family, as well. It is no secret that family is so extremely important to me, and these times really make my life happier. I was able to explain how we were all related to my younger family members.
I really hope that other people get to experience the kind of family like I have; and truly love and enjoy their family, especially their mothers. My mom is definitely unique, but that makes her one of a kind! Happy Mothers Day!
Mary Moments 