Story Weekend: Mom
In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend in the US, the theme for Story Weekend is Mom. Please share a story about your Mom or a woman who has made a difference in your life.
If you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve contributed. As always, there are a few “rules”:
▪ The story must be true
▪ Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge
On the weekend of my mother’s 90th birthday, all of her children gathered at her condo. No spouses, no grandchildren, just her five remaining children. It was a weekend of celebration and fun as we all quickly took on our roles from childhood and enjoyed being together as a family again. But the weekend was much more important than just the fun of being together. Mom is moving into a nursing home next month and wanted to pass down her personal items to us.
The weekend was about so much more than tears and treasures. The real treasure of the weekend was the memories that my mom passed along to all of us. With every item she gave to one of us, there was a story – a memory of a grandparent who taught her to embroider, a friend in nurses training, her courtship with our dad, their early years of marriage, stories about uncles and aunts and cousins who are long dead but – thanks to this weekend – will live on in our families collective memories. Mom gave us so much more than cedar chests and clocks and pictures this weekend, she gave us a real sense of family and an oral family history that we can now pass down to our children and grandchildren. What a fantastic gift she has given to us!
What a time to treasure!
Diane, it doesn’t follow your rules, but I wanted to share my Mother’s Day link with you.
http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2015/05/aged-p.html
Thanks to you and your reader Susan Roberts for reminding me. One of the lines from The Silent Sister that seared into me was Jeannie’s to Riley that young people don’t think to ask their parents about themselves. “It’s all about ‘me, me, me.’” That’s so true, and so unfortunate, especially if the parent passes on before you wake up and think to ask. Talk about regrets. Live in the present, for sure, Danny. But don’t ignore your past. The unexamined life is not worth living.