The way I was raised..if your mother asked you to do something…well, you did it! It is for this reason that I have been living with a slight degree of guilt for the last couple of years. O.K. It is more then slight guilt, and it has been more then a couple of years, but who’s counting?
Let me set the scene for you. It is a sunny day in November 2005…or was is 2004? The guilt has me confused! We were in Colorado celebrating the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my parents. All five of their children were in attendance. Our opening presentations were truly Oscar worthy..we are an amazing bunch of kids. I’m sure you are already wishing that you were there too. (Come on….cut me some slack here, the years of guilt has me slightly dilusional.)
One by one, in chronological order of age, each of us children took the microphone to share some words about our parents. We were all very eloquent, witty, delightful, humorous, and totally brilliant. (Ooops, sorry, slipping again.) Being child number four, I spoke fourth. I guess that might have been obvious…?
Anyway…my mother asked me that night to write down what I had said so that she could save it. “Sure, Mom. No problem.” Uhhmm. Maybe it was a slight problem, because I haven’t done it yet. Doh! Now, if you have been able to follow all the mathematical equations so far, you have beaten me to the conclusion that I AM LATE. Bad daughter. Bad, bad daughter. But never fear Mom, you have taught me well. “Better late then never” will be the lesson I will call on, right next to the “Always do what your mother asks you to do” lesson. So, here goes, to the best of my recollection.
“My younger brother, Tom, and I talk to each other every 
morning on the phone as we commute to work. We typically talk about business, solving each others corporate problems. We are brilliant that way, just ask us! (yes, I really said that…oops!) and we talk about family. One day we got to talking about our parents. We pondered the question of which parent was the worrier. I thought that it was Mom. Tom thought it was Dad. We discussed this for a while until we realized that we really didn’t know. Who was the stricter parent? We didn’t know. We talked about a few more personality traits until we realized what a truly united couple they always were. As parents you didn’t know where one ended and the other began. There was no playing one against the other…they were truly in this together. What a great example they gave us. Like Mary mentioned before me, yes I want to be like my Mom when I grow up, but mostly, I want to LOOK like my Mom. She still looks so amazing!”
Whew! Here you go, Mom. Better late then never, right? You and Dad still got it goin’ on. I love you both!
She lives 1200 miles away from my childhood home so these were family members that were not a part of her day to day life. This time…this was close to her home. Lee was special. Lee was someone who she had spent three years with at college…hanging out in each others dorms, going to school events together, studying together, eating together, taking road trips together, laughing together, crying together. He had graduated a year before my daughter, but they remained close. Lee and his girlfriend had recently spent some time over the holidays in our home. Our home was one of the stops on their “couch surfing” tour as they visited good friends.
Winter Games. It makes no difference. I love to watch. I am always in awe of these athletes who have committed so much of their life to a sport that they are passionate about.
incredibly beautiful weather this year. My company moved to a location in the fabulous Pioneer Square area of Seattle a month ago. I have had lunch outside at least four times!!
Today it appears that her timing belt broke and the pistons are damaged. Can you say…new motor? We had the car towed (for the second time today) to her home town and we will be securing a second opinion. Not that I don’t trust the first mechanics opinion…but I think I just need a second person to tell me that the car no longer has a pulse.
changed it, updated it, deleted from it and added to it. Come on…admit it. You have one too (or had). This is the list that defines the guy (or gal) that is “perfect for you”. Not just perfect…but perfect for you.
I had never experienced such kindness from a service business. I made sure to put Steve in my iPhone for reference in the future. (I couldn’t find an online listing for him to link to, so if you are local and ever need a referral…just let me know…I’ll hook you up!)
