Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Happy Birthday, Mom

My Mom turns 80 tomorrow. It’s a big number, but she doesn’t seem that old to me.

She must be the greatest little kid’s mom ever. She read to me constantly, probably starting when I was less than two years old, and I’m always grateful for that. We had a family custom that called for me (and my brother, too, I guess) to close a book hard enough to make a big whopping sound when we finished it. It meant “Hey, Mama, I made it through that whole book.” Then she would call out, from wherever she was in the house, “Very good!”

One summer when we missed the deadline to register for city rec swimming classes she drove my brother and me way out of town two or three times a week to a lake where classes were still available. She taught me to play to piano and encouraged us kids to take dancing lessons and tennis lessons and sing in the church choir.

She and my dad are great grandparents, too. They flew my kids to Florida every spring break for years and sported them about to every amusement park you’ve ever heard of, always letting them choose the parks, the rides, and the food.

Mom’s a wonderful decorator, with a load of taste. She like colors like I do, and sees ideas for combinations of colors everywhere. I’ve always thought that was proof that she’s really creative and wicked smart in the sense that she can bridge concepts from disparate realms. For example, she might get an idea for a color for throw pillows against the color of a sofa by spotting a woman on the street wearing a scarf that looks nice with the color of her coat. I can’t do that.

I love her. Many more, Mom.