Category Archives: mother’s day

friends, mother's day, weather

A Rambling Post to Prevent Three Short Ones

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Earlier in the week, I got a phone call out of the blue from someone I hadn’t spoken to or thought of since high school some 38 years ago. It took me a moment to get over the shock, but then we visited for a bit and he got around to the real point of the call – he was trying to locate a mutual third acquaintance from high school since he had decided to resume an earlier career in photography and the mutual friend was a professional photographer and cameraman. I had to disappoint and tell him that the last time I had visited with our mutual acquaintance was 20 years ago. At that time he was a camera man for CNN and we were both based in LA, but I hadn’t heard much from him since leaving LA.

Saturday was the mother-daughter lunch at the church, so L and MIL had a good time here while I toiled away getting the packets for tonight’s board meeting done. Then in the afternoon our friend came over to visit and them take us out to supper. G, the friend, was in town for the sad task of assisting his brother and sister arrange hospice care for their mother. It is sad; their mother has reached the point where she recognizes none of the kids and is in that petulant imaginary baby stage of advanced dementia. G and I have known and hung out with each other since grade school, more than 45 years ago. So we know each others moms well – we spent many a supper eating at each others house and driving G’s older sister crazy as kids. Now we have both lost our fathers and are a part of what my cohort calls the fatherless generation since we are at the age where most of our fathers are gone. Before too long we will become the parent-less generation as our mothers reach that event horizon. It is sad to contemplate.

Anyway, G and L and I spent the time visiting and enjoying catching up with each other. G lives in the south now, working as an engineer. We see each other once or twice a year. His older brother retired from the IRS and moved back here to the childhood home several years ago and his sister has lived here all her life, so in addition to visiting his mom, he comes back to see his siblings and along the way we get a chance to visit. It is amusing how clearly I remember our first meeting in fifth grade – I still see that same youngster in my minds eye when I think of G – even though we are now both grizzled oldsters with white beards and a lot less hair. And we still  remember doing stupid things together back then that would result in long-term hospitalization now. It’s always good to be reminded of the time when you were fearless and invincible. {*grin*} Heck, G was my wingman and chauffeur the night L and I first went out and he was a groomsman in our wedding. He just can’t escape us!

For Mother’s Day, we had both mom and MIL over for lunch. The day was beautiful, in the 70’s and calm. So after the guests departed home, L and I and Molly went for walk in the park followed by a relaxing nap (See, I told you we were oldsters!). In any case, as the evening wore on, the winds came up and blew hard enough to move the patio furniture about and knock over the basketball hoop, etc. Generally a miserably windy evening with the howling and rattling windows. Made L grouchy and Molly needy. What a combo.

This morning the wind was gone, but L and Molly had to squeeze out the back door to move the furniture out of the way so they could fully open the door. I got the task of setting the basketball hoop back up since L cannot lift it. And of course we had to clean up the bird nests and eggs and little hatchlings blown out of th trees and killed by the wind. The wind made me curious so I looked at the weather forecast for the week. Wednesday is forecast to reach a high in the low 40s and snow! So much for spring. Of course it is supposed to be back into the mid-70s by Saturday. I just love Colorado weather!

Enough for now. Time to enjoy the grey drear before it starts heading for the cold and rain and snow.

mother's day, oddity

An Odd Mother’s Day Story

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Yesterday evening, as L and I prepared to go out to eat with some old friends, I picked up my phone to find a rather long message queued up for me. So as we walked out the door, I was listening to the charming message. The message was from what sounded to be an older lady. She was waxing poetic about the beautiful roses she had received and how they were so beautiful that she wished she still had the energy to plant and grow an acre of roses. The message went on talking about how wonderful the roses were, how brilliant their colors, and how they were the perfect gift, etc. It was clear that someone had gifted this lady with a gift dear to her heart that she treasured and deeply appreciated. Finally, about eight minutes into the message, the caller started to wind down and mentioned that she knew Shauna had to work and that she hoped to talk to family later.

Now I had a quandry. Clearly the lovely lady who had left this charming and gracious message on my phone had dialed the wrong number. She had either missed or ignored the intro message stating that it was I that her phone had connected to. Normally I do not call and tell people that they have not reached the number they must have been expecting. So should I use the caller ID and call back to tell the lady that her message was lovely, but had not reached her intended destination? Or …

A bit of back story first. The reason that I generally do not call and tell people that they have reached the wrong number is two fold:

  1. My answer message clearly states that you have reached the number of and that if you so desire, you can leave a message for . Thus you have to be a bit of a doofus to leave the message for someone else on my phone.
  2. My number is one digit off from the now defunct pig sale barn. For years I was plagued with 2-10 calls a day from people trying to reach the pig sale barn. The people that called to inquire as to the late day Chicago price of fat backs and other such arcana were amidst the rudest I have ever conversed with. I was accused of everything from lying to stealing the pig barn’s phone when I would answer or return a call via caller ID to let them know that the barn wasn’t going to know they were planning on bringing a truckload to the Thursday sale unless they actually called the pig barn. 

Thus my policy of not calling people to tell them the bad news that they called my answering machine rather than whom they desired.

In the end I did the only thing I could and have a clear conscious. I called the number and had a very pleasant conversation with the author of the original message. After her initial denial turned to acceptance when I delivered a brief synopsis of the message, we had a very pleasant conversation. It turned out she was trying to reach her daughter in Arizona (whose cell phone was indeed one off from mine) to thank her for the beautiful gift. When she was younger, she had always grown a large plot of roses on the homestead and missed them deeply now that she couldn’t do it anymore. Her daughter knew that and so sent her the gift that meant the most to her – roses.

So here is hoping the happy mother re-called the thoughful daughter and this time they connected. It makes my heart happier to think of that ending. In any case, I did my part.

mother's day

What I Learned …

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I saw one of the standard Mother’s Day paeans in a newsletter the other day and was reminded how often the mushy sentiments in such articles leave a bit to be desired relative to reality. The newsletter version featured old standbys such as:

My mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE … “What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you! Don’t talk back to me!”

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION … “Just wait until your father gets home.”

My mother taught me LOGIC … “If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”

My mother taught me ESP … “Put your sweater on; don’t you think I don’t know when you’re cold?”

My mother taught me HUMOR … “When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

But I think that some more realistic teachings can be extolled. Thus I give you …

Some of the Things I Learned From My Mother

My mother taught me THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE … “Just pull up a chair, you’re always welcome to eat with us.”

My mother taught me THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT … “If you don’t hoe the weeds now, they’ll go to seed. Then you have a real problem.”

My mother taught me IT IS BETTER TO GIVE, BUT LEARN TO RECEIVE WITH GRACE AS WELL … “You’ve helped us so many times, let us help you now.”

My mother taught me ABOUT PERSONAL HYGIENE … “Wash under your arms! Someday you will want to lift your arms in public.”

My mother taught me YOU NEED NOT DISCLOSE ALL THAT YOU KNOW … “Yes I knew you and your brother broke the door. But you already felt bad enough about it so I didn’t need to bring it up.” And you’d be amazed at all the secrets that weren’t actually a secret when you talk to your mother about those events years after the fact. {*grin*}

My mother taught me TO LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY … “People can’t help how they look, but they can change their heart. So love the heart and tolerate the rest.”

In honor of mothers (and mother-in-laws) everywhere, may you all enjoy a

Happy Mother’s Day