Lucky Dorito

Today – guess what?

The first MALE contributor to the month of *Mom-stories*! Woo-stinkin-hoo!

Chris is one of the very first male bloggers that I began reading a few years ago. He is still around in blogland – although he doesn’t post very often anymore. I lurked on his site for the longest time (as I do on just about everyones site until I work up the nerve to comment – which sometimes just never happens…. why is that? But… I digress.) He may not post often but he does read from time to time and eventually, I hope he’ll be back to posting. I sure do miss his *voice*! (Hint, hint Chris!)

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“Good Morning, Sunshine!”

What takes you back? Maybe it’s a song. How ‘bout a smell or a phrase? One hit me today when over the cube walls I heard “Good Morning, Sunshine!”

She’s been gone 2 years now – yesterday as a matter of fact – and I can still hear my mom’s voice saying it to me each school-day morning as I wandered into the kitchen, eyes glazed over by sleep. Its one of her few voices that I can still hear as plain as day. At times I feel like the boy in “Polar Express” when he can barely hear the sleigh bell any more. The day her voice goes silent worries me. I pray that day never comes. Unfortunately my kids will only remember the woman that was wasting away in a nursing home bed, taken too early by Alzheimer’s. She was such a great woman.

Before she met my father, she was a single mother to my sister and 2 brothers. Her first husband (and their father) had a severe drinking problem that ultimately took his life. For 8 years she held a job at the local newspaper (run by my aunt) and took care of a home and 3 growing kids with a lot of help from family. Then along came my dad – a stable man with a good job. When I came along Mom was able to stay home and do “mom” things. After winter snows she pulled me around the block on my sled. She packed my lunch every day for school with my favorites – a ham sandwich, potato chips, and an apple or banana – and had chocolate tapioca pudding in little glass bowls many days when I came home. During the evenings she and I would watch cop shows – “Canon”, “Barnaby Jones”, and “The Streets of San Francisco” – when Dad was on the road. She had the best ideas for crafts, and a drive for me to be the best student I could be. In college when I was ready to pack it in for a lot of mistakes I had made, she and Dad came to school to encourage me to keep on. They loved me and wanted me to succeed. But once I was out on my own, she refused to interfere – trusting that the years of teaching were all I needed. What a special lady!

Boy, do I miss her! But I know I’ll see her again in Heaven! And I’m sure she’ll be there waiting to say one more time “Good Morning, Sunshine!”

Love you, Mom!
Originally posted Jan. 24th, 2006

*Sidenote* Chris shared this about the picture: Before I forget: please feel free to use the picture of my mom in your post. It’s one of my favorites of her. It’s how I remember her every evening as we watched TV. The afghan she used was actually mine from my sister, but it somehow always fit her best. And I do miss her so. She was taken way before her time.

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