My Instead: I went over to my mom's to join her in singing
"Happy Birthday" to my cousin Julie.
It was a long day of working two jobs, more shopping and more
wrapping. During my busyness, I had called my mom to see how she was doing with
her new cold. No answer. I called my sister Karen, my brother Bruce and my
sister-in-law Pam trying to locate my mother. I even stopped by her house thinking
that I would find her so heavily under the weather that she was ignoring phone
calls. She wasn’t home! Pam finally called me back while I was at mom’s house
and revealed that Mom was with them having dinner. I
felt better. I left a note (instead of opening all the kitchen cupboards like I
usually do when I stop by), feeling glad that she was okay.
A few hours later while I was still wrapping, Mom called (stuffy
nose and all) to say she was home now and taking care of her cold. She said she
was about to call my cousin Julie to wish her a happy birthday. When my dad was
alive, they used to call various people to sing “Happy Birthday” on their big
day, but Mom would never do that alone. I told her I would be right over to
sing to Julie with her!
When I arrived, I found her comfy on the couch with her tissues
and all her “meds” nearby. I kept my distance, not wanting to catch anything right
before the holidays. We chatted a bit, cleared our throats, and dialed the
phone to call Julie. Darn, we got the answering machine. Oh, well. We sang together
in beautiful “harmony” to my 52-year-old cousin, then we both left our
endearing messages.
Since Dad has been gone, I try to fill in the blank whenever I can
so Mom doesn’t feel the emptiness in her heart. After all, I am part of Dad!
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