Sunday Stories, Mother Day Edition
This is me and my mom a long time ago. I flew up to NJ to surprise her for her birthday. This was when she remembered who I was. She has battled cancer twice and won. She has quit smoking repeatedly throughout life and is finally done. For nine years it was her and I and that is where my story begins.
My mom was married to a man in the military when she had me. I was told I was six months old when they separated and my mom and I moved in with my grandparents and my great granny. It was four generations living under one roof. It was mom and I living in one room. Those are some of my favorite memories. She let me try on her wigs. She let me make myself up at her vanity with her makeup. It was just us two. Her mattress fit under my crib partially. I was about 5 and got a canopy bed. Mom's mattress now fits under my bed all the way.
My mom shared a tiny closet with me. My grandparents put up with me drooling all over, turning over, and eventually crawling and getting into everything. My grandma took care of me and my great granny each and every day and fed us all nightly. Mom contributed to the bills and it all seemed heavenly to me. I got attention from them all, but my favorite person was my grandpa. He let me sit on his lap. He called me his little cookie and did till the day he died. He ate sandwiches I made with grandma's help. He saved butter dishes, the plastic round ones, and made us a mini-golf course. My grandma and grandpa were amazing to me and my mom. They took us in, they helped with my expenses and they never raised their voices at me.
One time I fell on the huge metal heating grate. It heated the entire house by forced air from the basement. My grandma called a taxi to take me to the ER. She never drove. I ended up with a head full of stitches I was told. I still have the scar today. My grandma was my mom during the day and my mom was it in the evening. I was raised by amazing women and one amazingly kind man. I was loved by them so fiercely. My love for them was just as fierce.
When I was older I would stay for every school break I could. I would work with my grandpa in the garage. I would help grandma make us lunch. I would color in a coloring book at the age of 16 because my grandpa thought I was bored and needed a craft. He would proudly put my work on the fridge. As I started looking at colleges to go to, I found a Catholic one down by my grandparents. I could not afford it if I lived in the dorms, so my grandpa said he would sell his retirement home and buy a new house so I could go. I couldn't let him do that. My grandparents would give me everything they could at anytime they thought I need it.
I played the little organ they had. I Always sang Silent Night and played it on it every year. They were the holidays. They made them always amazing. I still have some of their gifts. My family may not be perfect, but what family is? I am truly blessed with the family I have.
This year is a little extra special. My daughter is having her first mother's day as well. I am a grandma now. I got to hold her in church and she slept on me. She knows grandma always has her. My daughter is an amazing mother, but I hope I can live up to my grandparent's standards. I pray I can be there and watch my little peanut, yes I was a cookie, she is a peanut, grow and achieve any and all dreams she may have. I know I had an amazing great-grandma, an amazing grandma, and a wonderful mother and I am in a long string of strong amazing loving women. I pray I do them proud in being a grandmother too.
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