Life With My Mother
I love my mother. That doesn’t mean we always get along. We’ve had our ups and downs, and she doesn’t always agree with the decisions I make, as I don’t always agree with hers. I think that’s the way of all mothers and daughters. I’m blessed to still have my mother around, and blessed to have learned what I have learned from her over the years.
She is staying with us right now while my brothers work on her house back in Missouri. She spends most of her time in Florida, where she volunteers for a state park and goes kayaking. But she needs space in Missouri where my brothers still live. They have built a small house for her, but it’s not finished, as they can really only work on it on the weekends. It’s been a slow go. Some years, she brings her travel trailer to stay in because the house isn’t done, but this year with gas prices the way they are, she decided it would be better to leave the trailer in Florida. With the house not done, she came out to Colorado to stay with us.
And it’s been a great two weeks. We have gone into the mountains, visited all the best thrift stores in town, shared cooking duties, and I haven’t had to fold much laundry. She keeps herself busy with her knitting, doing any dirty laundry that happens to be around, taking her doggies for walks, riding her bike around town, reading the newspaper, playing around on her computer, and then starts it all over again. I’ve been able to show her some of my favorite places here, and we’ve taken more photos than we will ever print. The weather has been gorgeous; cool nights and warm days. The leaves are changing, the sun is setting further and further to the south, and there’s nothing to complain about.
For the first time in a long time, I think I will miss her when she heads back east. Usually we’ve worn out each other’s welcome pretty quickly, but this time, it feels different. My mother is blessed with incredibly good health, something she never thought she would have, and enough energy to do most of what she wants to do. She has had to remind me that “one activity a day” is probably enough for her 72 year old bones. But she gives me a good run for my money in the energy department.
This week, we’re working on the garden. It needed some severe reworking. She dug dirt and chipped away at roots, and I trimmed bushes until my hands were sore from the trimmers. And she was still going! The garden should be beautiful when we’re done. This coming weekend we will be ready to troll the garden center and get some perennials to plant for next year. I suddenly have a usable patio because of all the hard work she’s put in so far. I wouldn’t have done any of this without her help. I couldn’t have. I didn’t even know where to start. She does, though. She used to do this work for a living.
I’ve had to be on my toes while she’s been here. No time to be lazy. So much to do. And I want her to be comfortable and happy for as long as she wants to stay. Meanwhile, my brothers are burning the midnight oil back in Missouri trying to finish up the house for her.
And right now, it feels pretty much like a perfect world.
