Sunday, January 24, 2021

Her birthday

 

Today is my mom's birthday. She would have turned 99 years old. In this picture, she is the age I am now, and doing a damn sight better job of aging than I am managing. She always was a beauty, with the gentlest of laughs, yet a will of oak, not steel, because steel is cold, and her will was warm, nudging you to do exactly as she wanted you to do, because she had this kindness about her, an aura, that made you want to please her.  Even so, as a teenager, and even as a young woman, I flexed my oppositional muscles as if it were my duty to do so, until at last I came to understand that never in life would she have asked me to do or be anything that did not richly serve me. The blouse I am wearing in this photo was crocheted by her already arthritic fingers. I still have all her crocheted creations. I miss her so.

12 comments:

  1. The good genes just keep on giving! Stunning family- y'all.

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  2. Thank you for sharing your strong gentle beautiful mother. Lovely daughter and mother portrait. Everything brings me healing tears these days. Thank you!

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  3. Yes. And I miss mine too. Always.

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  4. A photo of so much love and beauty. A loving remembrance on you mom's birthday.

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  5. I know you must miss her with all of your heart.
    You know what? I really wish I missed my mother. Isn't that a horrible thing to say? But it is the truth and for every reason, I wish I could.

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  6. My Mom would have been 99 on January 15th! I miss her a lot and still talk to her when something is on my mind.
    Thanks for this lovely post!

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  7. You are both indeed beautiful -- beyond measure.

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  8. You look exactly like your mom!

    Mum's been gone for eight years and I still miss her. I wish I could talk to her again.

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  9. Easy to tell where you got your beautiful smile.

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  10. It's great that you have such wonderful memories and mementos of your mom.

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  11. What a beautiful pair! reading this has inspired me to pick up my knitting again despite the arthritis in my shoulders etc. there is stuff I still need to do.

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