This is an OOPE photo from the other day. Note the dark edge of my pocket, proof the camera was really there! I liked it then… but after spending the weekend with my mother, I like this photo even more. This is Dally and Elsa trotting along peacefully side by side. The work is getting done. There’s no need for urgency or speed. The silence was comfortable. At least, I didn’t hear them conversing! They just seemed much more than mother and daughter, more like buddies sharing an enjoyable moment. I shared plenty of those this weekend with my mom. Whether at church or shopping or eating or sitting in front of the fire, my mom and I had a good time. We always sleep together so that we can talk until we fall asleep! I have friends whose mothers are far removed from that closeness… mothers that are alcoholics or mothers with mental problems. I can’t imagine what I would have been like without the closeness of the bond I have with my mom. Not that she knows my *entire* life, and I know she doesn’t read this (she gave up computers when she retired), so I can safely say there are things she won’t EVER know. (But I’m not sharing those things with you either, nope, not here. I mean, I love you, man, but this is not the place!) That said, my mom knows 90% of what goes on and that’s pretty darn good. I know I don’t want to know all of what goes on in my daughter’s life either! Being a buddy didn’t happen overnight. She can still make me jump if she says, “CAROL!”. We have reached that time in our lives that no one controls the other. We are content with our roles and thrilled with our relationship. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I plan to carry that on with my daughter. I hope to focus on more of a partnership and less of a dictatorship. Besides with 6 men coming here to eat, us girls gotta stick together!
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