When I was visiting Mom in Indiana or we went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan together, she would often come into my room when she heard me stirring around, lay down on my bed and we’d snuggle up like sisters.
She had the most beautiful eyes.
Calico. Her irises were blue, and bit of brown, with a splash of green and a smidge of yellow.
They were hypnotic, yet tender and warm.
Sometimes we’d giggle and gossip like a couple of teenagers.
I never realized how precious those moments would become.
Some of my happiest memories of her.
Early mornings.
Girls planning their day, usually spent together.
Time is so fleeting...
If you’re blessed to still have your mother, try to cherish every second you have with her. Because someday you won’t.
Yes, those moments are precious and they don't last. So we need to gather them as often as we can. While I remember my mother one time with my cousin sharing a bed together at our grandparents' managed hotel, laughing and talking long into the night while my twin brother and I tried to get to sleep on the floor.
My sister and my mother had a rather adversarial relationship. But my sister helped her often during her years in assisted living and make sure she got everything done that she needed.
You made me remember the two years or so, when she no longer could email but could call me precisely at 4 PM on Mondays (her choice) and tell me who had visited and what she had done during the week, giggling in between, like a schoolgirl, so happy to read my words on her TTY.
Stained glass windows of the soul. Michelle, you have condensed a relationship to its most common denominators. The eyes, the giggles, the joy, the love — a four-plex. There’s so much happening in a person’s face even with a SARS mask on…..the windows are showing who is there. I love this piece of writing about a topic and a relationship very universally identifiable and precious to me — Mother. You have painted that relationship with the very best colors, warm ones, authentic ones, colors that take hold of any one of us who have or had a loving Mother. And yes, savor the presence of the goodness, for the nurturing, the supportive care, the humor— the giggling together you tell of — THAT is shining some really bright light. For me, I miss my Mom answering the phone, “Joe’s Bar and Grill….”. Who does that? A great person who puts humor out for the sharing. I’ve still to muster the greatness of character to answer my phone like that……..but there’s still time for me, because I’m two somebodies Mother. ~~ Thank you for this story, Michelle. ~~ djl
It's almost Christmas. Lynn Basil is writing her last book about a secret entrance into the magical doll land of Sha Bebe that she loves so much. Bagannos have taken over the world! Lynn finally meets her dolls in real life. Can she write in a Secret
