Happy Mother's Day to all my good friends out there in Cyberland! Anyone have any memories they'd like to share? Happy/Sad, Good/Bad. Here's mine - when my dear mother was dying from Alzheimer's disease four years ago, my sister spent an evening with her in the hospital. The end would be just 2 days away and Mom was in and out of the "present." At one point, thinking my sister was ME, Mom said, I've always loved you the most, Leslie." My sister didn't tell me this until just last year. I almost cried - for her - because I could not imagine what heartbreak it must have been for her to hear that. I just wish it could have been me there at that moment.
About Me
- Leslie:
- Delta, British Columbia, Canada
- I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day to all my good friends out there in Cyberland! Anyone have any memories they'd like to share? Happy/Sad, Good/Bad. Here's mine - when my dear mother was dying from Alzheimer's disease four years ago, my sister spent an evening with her in the hospital. The end would be just 2 days away and Mom was in and out of the "present." At one point, thinking my sister was ME, Mom said, I've always loved you the most, Leslie." My sister didn't tell me this until just last year. I almost cried - for her - because I could not imagine what heartbreak it must have been for her to hear that. I just wish it could have been me there at that moment.
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8 comments:
hi leslie,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
hugs & blessings,
sylvia
Happy Mother's Day Leslie!!
The one memory that I was fortunate enough to have resolved with Mom during the last days of her battle with alzheimers was:
I bought her a beautiful Silver Mound that she cherised. One day I came home from work to find her walking from my home with two of my favorite Bulbs (amirillas I belive) dug out of the ground. I was sooooooo upset. A little later she walked back over with 1/2 the silver mound I had given her for Mother's Day one year. Needless to say the shock was to much for the delicate plant and both halves withered. Well, her last Mother's Day at her Home I bought her ANOTHER silvermound, only to realize that she did not know how to water it. My point is, a couple days before she passed I told her about that situation and that I was sooooooooo sorry for getting mad at her...(it was only a bulb for crying in the sink...she was my Mother) Anyway, she said "What plant??" I remembered just bawling and hugging her. Here I had felt so bad for so many years, yet as a Mother she "forgot" the unimportant stuff and had forgiven me years ago. The good side of this is, my sister called and the tiny silver mound is coming back to life. YUP, under the weeds and the grass, a shred of hope.
Leslie, maybe you weren't there, but when the time was right your sister did share that moment with you, and that is a wonderful memory!!
Peg
Your post brought back some good memories for me Leslie. Thanks. I copied my Amirillas post over to my own on the alzheimers section. As Mother's ourselves we just can't be everywhere at once...just not possible, and our Mothers knew that. Because they did the wonderful, joyful, tearful task of raising us!!! (and they did it well!!)
Have a wonderful day today,
Peg
The memory of my mother I'd like to share is also from her later years, 87.
We were walking home (in Germany) from my father's funeral, when she turned to me and asked:
"Was I a good wife?"
That took me totally by surprise. My parents were totally devoted to each other until the end. They went through hardships like the Depression, when my mother the RN had work, while my father with his degrees in Chemistry, Physics, and Mining Engineering, was home taking care of 3 little ones. Than came World War II, and after that my father in Siberia until 1947, while my mother in a destroyed and starving Germany with 5 little ones.
They were true partners, and all of us children had the best example of TRUE LOVE.
I told her that she had totally dedicated herself to him and her family.
She just had taken that for a given.
One of my brothers was born 11/7/1938 in Berlin, Krystallnacht. My mother's father was Jewish.
Another was born 4/15/1945 while everybody was crowded into a cellar during a bomb attack.
Even as adults, we still blame some of our problems on our Mother. Why is that?
We don't think of attributing to her all the good she has installed into us!
Here is your one true and possibly only real example of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
Our Mothers do not expect any more than little things from us.
Leslie, my English is failing me with the right words, hope you understand what I am trying to say.
Ellen
I better not fail this tipsy letter test....
Wow, thanks Ellen, for such descriptive memories of your mother. There are many women out there who could use your words of wisdom. Thanks for sharing and I hope you had a great mother's day yesterday.
Hi Leslie and friends
Thank you so much for sharing your heartfelt memories of your mothers.
I still have my mother (she'll be 85 in June) and she's as spunky as ever although I see her aging faster now. I cherish every moment I have with her. She never did learn how to drive...my father always took her where she needed to go. He passed in 1995 and she has depended on family and friends to get her to appointments, etc. Today we went for our yearly mammograms together and went out for dinner afterwards. My mom and I enjoy a lot of the same things like antiques and thrift stores and drives along the ocean. I married at the young age of 16 and being in the military, we moved freqently. I was away from my parents and siblings for over 30 years...the Army was my family...but now I'm back in their world and we're closer than ever...As Martha Stewart would say..."It's a Good Thing".
Leslie
My daughter Lisa wrote in my Mother's Day card that one of her fond memories as a child was when I told her that she was my favorite...and then she found out that I told my other children the same thing. Well, it was true...they were ALL my favorites :)
hi leslie,
i had posted these comments on peg's blog after reading your comments over there, so i wanted to put them here here.
"leslie, i'm so sorry about your loss a few years ago, and for what you and your family are experiencing with your father's move and all. i know it's bittersweet for everyone. take it day-by-day. feel better real soon. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to you."
hugs & blessings,
sylvia
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