Yesterday, My Mom’s husband, my niece and I had dinner together. I love Sunday, Family dinners – they give me such a warm feeling of tradition and togetherness. A time to catch up , a time to just “be” with each other.
We had a lot of laughs! In fact, another patron in the restaurant actually came over to us and told us that we ruined her dinner because we were laughing so loud! How random right? And I felt sorry for her, if she couldn’t share in the joy of laughter!
And we cried too.. for the person who wasn’t seated there with us. But her spirit was for sure! Every so often in the conversation we would talk about her and I could tell her husband was having a tough day. You see, my Mother asked me to publish her writings not two months before she died. I asked her husband to gather as much of her work as he could find so I could start to get my head together on how to do that.
My Mother , like me, had a file folder of individual pieces of paper where she jotted her thoughts down and she wrote things on her computer. Her husband went through many of those writings yesterday morning and cried in his green house.
As we said our goodbyes and he handed me my Mother’s laptop and the folder that contained her writings, I watched him walkaway. He walked alone – without my Mom. Without the wheelchair, without the oxygen tank, without helping her into the truck. And my heart felt so sad.
You see, I am used to living alone without a partner – I have been doing it a long time. Do I like it? Most days I am ok with it, but I would love to have someone to share my life with. Am I used to it? Yes.. But my Mom’s husband is not used to being alone and my heart went out to him.
On the drive home, my niece and I talked of various daily life things. I didn’t want to focus on my Mom too much as I feel in some ways, we all need to start moving on as best we can.
I settled in for the night to watch my favorite show on the Hallmark Channel and I reached down to the file folder that contained my Mothers writings. And just as I had praised her work as a young girl when I first read them at the age of 12, I admired them now as a mature woman.
Did I cry? Yes.. Was my heart filled with warmth? Yes! There were writings addressed to my brother Scott, to myself, thoughts of her marriages and her sad heart when they ended, thoughts of Mother Earth – which I will definitely share with the world! And the beginnings of her children’s book about a WoodChuck!
And as I read through them, I was reminded of something my Mother had said to me when I first started this blog. She said ” the torch has been passed – you are officially a writer and a better one that I”
Well, if you were to read the beautiful musings of my Mother – I don’t know that one could say I am the better writer.
For the longest time, I never felt that I inherited any of my Mother’s craftiness. She was such an artist in every way – she taught herself to sew, to knit, she made greeting cards , she was a great cook, she was a wonderful entertainer, she even taught herself how to use new technology. However, what I do know for sure – is that she gave me her Gift.
Her writings sit in the folder with her laptop, near the couch. I am not quite ready to dig in to create the publishing project of her work and mine – but I am getting close to it.
Thank you Mom for this Gift. I miss you every day – it’s hard and I cry a lot but I am also trying to move on.
With Love and so much Gratitude in my heart,
Kimberley
