Posted: Jan 5, 08 7:36am
My mother is now 83 years old. She continues to be very active both physically and socially. When people are awed at her stamina, I always respond with "she beats me in aerobics." She maintains a social circle at church and senior citizen's club. I think she had the most parties this holiday than any of us siblings. Bakes muffins for 4 of the 8 children that live nearby, making sure we continue to have our regular supply of snacks, exactly the same way as she did when we ran off for school years ago. She calls each of us regularly; and when she does, I tell my friends, "She's checking my attendance." She meticulously attends to her appearance. At church last Christmas, she whispered to me, "How does my hair look behind me? I did not
comb it so well. It must look so bad." Wow! That floored me.
Of course, we all look after her welfare, more so now that she can be forgetful and at risk for falls. I realized that, as children, she so took great care for all of us 8 children. We are now taking great care for her. This "role reversal" has deepened my understanding of my relationship with her as well as the ebbs and tides of life in general. I'm sure my siblings feel the same way, especially when we share each other stories about, "Do you know what Mommy did/say yesterday?" We smile, laugh, gulp in surprise, become wide-eyed in awe at how she has aged so gracefully in wisdom.
She is my best friend.
