It’s not that we don’t trust her to feed or care for herself. As Mom told my cousin in a phone conversation the other day with considerable vehemence, “I’ve been feeding myself for 96 years! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself!” True, she has and she is, but how do you tell someone […]
In the Hispanic culture, both in Latin America and throughout the U.S. Southwest, death is celebrated on November 2 with magnificent altars as a way of remembering and honoring our deceased loved ones. Many years ago our dear friends from Mexico, the Gottfrieds, created one in honor of the passing of their father. I remember […]
I returned from San Antonio to find all sorts of good news. Great rejoicing in the big house because Hubby Flatbottom has received his DVR and is back to watching the 56” TV. Mom and Sister Sara have restrained their cleaning to the drawers in Mom’s file cabinet. Only two bags of my stuff on […]
And in the land there was a great gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair and rending of clothes. There is no joy in Mudville and it’s not on account of the Mets and the Cubbies. The mighty DVR has struck out, died as it were, rattled its last breath and took all the taped […]
Mom has spent her entire adult life, almost all 96 years of it, in doing and going and being active. Painting landscapes with her best friends, the three Marthas – Martha Gottfried, Martha Sauer, and Martha Lou Castillo, pus Mary Ann Hendricks. They could be seen all over Mexico City painting, and playing bridge, and […]
Rugby? What the heck? How did she find Rugby? Left alone on Sunday, Mom watched what she could find with the remote. NBC, perhaps because they had been stripped of their Sunday football, offered Rugby as an alternative. It got Mom hooked on Rugby. Not sure if it was all that magnificent […]
Not so many years ago, turning on a television consisted of getting up from the couch, walking over to the TV and either pushing a button or twisting a knob. Such a thing is no longer possible. If you are lucky, you’ll find the On-Off switch hidden along the edge or on the back or […]
Are you related to a hoarder? I’m sure everyone has had a glimpse of those appalling TV shows about hoarders who collect prized junk that fills houses and spill out into yards. Mom, blessings on us and thank the Good Lord, is not. She has spent so many years riding the roads, north in the […]
I’m going to have to learn to laugh more. The ability to laugh at ourselves is a talent we don’t practice nearly enough. Last night, Mom staggered across the floor looking like a Laurel and Hardy cartoon and caught herself on the chair to keep from falling. She burst out laughing, just guffawing and snorting […]
What is it about humans that we have this desperate need to live longer? The Good Lord put something in us that is so strong that we cling to life as though it were the last doughnut in the box at Sunday school. Even cockroaches hang on to their miserable little lives, scurrying for the […]