Mom and Me

There a myriad of benefits that manifest in a life that is not centered around the rigidity of the 9 to 5 day. Many you expect. Like working in your pajamas. Not wearing makeup. Going to the gym at 11 in the morning. Then there are the others that catch you by surprise. One that I have found is the time I get to spend with my mother.

Mom will turn 87 on Saturday. She still lives by herself, drives, cooks and continues to be obsessively vain about her appearance. Her orthopedic remarked the last time we were there that she is by far his best dressed patient. When she points out someone that she feels sorry for, some ' poor old man or woman' I remind her they are probably younger than she is. Yes, she moves a little slower than she would like. Arthritic knees and bursitis in your hip can do that. But in the big scheme of things my mother is as youthful an almost 87 year old as you can get.

Now that my days are not so tightly scheduled I am able to take the two hour drive south more often, at exactly the point in her life when she needs me most. But the real gift of this is for me and in the quality of the time I get to spend with her.

When every minute and hour of my days were accounted for and not necessarily by me, a visit to Mom, was one more thing I crammed in. We'd see a movie, have a meal, maybe shop. Now I get the treat of just being with her. Sort of like when I was a toddler.

Before my brother was born we lived briefly in Edison, New Jersey. My mother had no friends close by and there were no small children in the neighborhood. It was just Mom and me while Dad was at the office. She read to me every day. I credit her with me falling in love with the written word. I was weaned on As The World Turns and The Guiding Light. I watched her cook. They didn't call it such then, but we just hung out together.

All these years later and I get that gift again. Mom told me the last time I was there that I was a lot of fun to be with. I told her she was the one who showed me how.


“Today I’m participating in a mass blogging! WOW! Women on Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We’re celebrating the release of Therese Walsh’s debut novel today.The Last Will of Moira Leahy (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost they were teenagers. Visit the Muffin (on the 13th) to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit http://www.theresewalsh.com/ to find out more about the author.”