My Mother

I just got back from a trip seeing my parents in Houston. My mother is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She was elected University of Houston Beauty when she was at Sam Houston High School. She literally looked like a movie star. My mother had lovely thick dark curly hair. Her eyes were a gorgeous hazel green. She was also smart. She was on the honor role every year at high school. More importantly she was a good and decent person. Never self absorbed or conceited. She put the needs of her children first. She is the one that always did for us. From cooking meals, baking cookies to putting on Birthday parties. Every year at Christmas she would tell us that Santa Claus was poor this year. And every year we got exactly what we wanted and then some.

When I was small I had asthma and had to frequent the Doctors office. It was located on Sunset Blvd. In Houston. The street was lined with thick green trees that met in an archway over the street. The moment my Mother turned down Sunset it was a dead giveaway that we were going to the doctor. My stomach would immediately start churning. Once we were going to the doctor for my sister Carolyn. When I saw where we were going I got so upset I got sick in the front reception room. The nurses asked my Mother if she was sure that I was not the one who was sick. Back in those days doctors would give a lot of shots. My Mother always promised us a toy if we were to get a shot. She would take us to an old toy store in the Village called World Toy and Gift.
It was a large store with toys jammed together on every shelf up and down the aisles. I always had a difficult time making up my mind what to choose. It really took the pain away from getting a shot and I loved my Mother for it.

My Mother enjoyed reading. She read mostly romance novels but she read other sorts of novels too. She taught me how to pray. She started with a simple prayer that she made up. Dear Jesus please make me a sweet little girl and bless everybody. Thank you Dear Jesus for being good to me. She told me that when she had a problem she would pray to the Virgin Mary and her prayers would be answered. I relied on my Mother so much that I told her she was my Virgin Mary.

My Mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years ago. I knew something was wrong because she would repeat herself a lot on the phone. It is difficult to understand her sometimes because she cannot remember what things are called. She forgets our names .She refers to her granddaughter as that little girl. She told me that the other guy sometimes came over and he was really nice. I knew she was talking about my brother Anthony. Once she escaped the house in the middle of the night. My Father and my sister Nancy did not even know it. She walked about two miles down the street to a Walgreens Pharmacy. They called at 2:00 in the morning to let them know and pick her up. My sister Carolyn and I were always comforted thinking that at least she was happy and that she didn’t realize that anything was wrong. On this visit I was quietly sitting with my Mother at the kitchen table. We were alone. She started telling me that she had been ill for a while. That her mind was not as good as it used to be. She said Carolyn had been coming to see her and she had forgotten that Carolyn was her daughter. She said she felt really bad about that and that no one had told her Carolyn was her daughter. Two big tears welled up in her eyes. I told her it was OK we all understood. When we ended the conversation and I walked away I also had two big tears welling in my eyes.