Mom-isms

This past weekend was Mother's Day.  My children and grandchildren came to visit and we had a good time.  But after they were gone, I realized how much I missed my own mother.  She would have enjoyed the day I had with all the people running around, laughing and talking.  And she loved kids, especially small ones.

Mom died in 1998 at the young age of 66.  She suffered from Alzheimers disease for at least four years before that, with her short term memory fading away over time.  So in reality I was losing her for a long time before she died.

Some time in 2009 I was doing an exercise in self-image for a class I was taking.  You had to write down all of the things you had accomplished in your life.  After we did our lists he reminded us how much others had assisted in those processes. 

At that same time, I started writing down things that I learned from various people.  I had a wonderful set of grandparents, some super aunts and uncles (one most particularly -- more on that later), and then there was my Mom.

These are some things she used to say to us regularly.  I call them Mom-isms.  And they're just as true today as they were when she last said them.Last weekend was Mother's Day.  While I was joy-filled to have my children and grandchildren around me, I missed my own mother. 

• Captain Kangaroo was right, and please and thank you ARE magic words.  Use them!
• If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. 
• You don't need fancy clothes to look nice.  But whatever you‟re wearing, make sure it's clean and neat.
• Call or send flowers to people who are alive.  When they're gone they don't care how many you send to their funerals.
• Wash your hands before you hold a baby.
• Don't frown, it makes wrinkles.
• You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
• Use your head for something besides holding up your hair.
• Damn is not God's last name!
• Nobody ever said life was fair.
• Crying washes out your eyeballs.

Well, Mom, I still miss you.  Life isn't fair or you'd still be here.  And I washed my eyes out today just thinking about you.

If your mother is still around, call her.  You know she worries.