~stay tuned~

I look in the mirror each morning and say hello to the image of my mother, a wonderful woman who has been gone now since 2007.  We share the same eyes, the same smile, the shape of our face, and some have told me the sound of our voices.  It used to unnerve me, this idea of looking like her when I grew older.  I now accept it as the gift it is.  If you never knew my mom, all you have to do is look at me.  The older I get, the more I become the same woman that she once was.

At age 64, I have grown to have an even greater respect for her than I have ever before.  I can't imagine how she made it on her own for the last 25 years of her life.  I know the aches and pains she had, mostly because she passed them on to me for enjoyment in my later years of life as well.  I remember her struggle financially as she eked by each month on the meager earnings of my father's social security check plus whatever little amount of extra spending money she could earn on the side.  Mom made it on her own, never asking for help from her 7 kids even though any of us would have gladly given it.  

She had pride.
So do I.

I got to thinking about mom a few weeks back when it came time for my long overdue mammogram, a procedure I find more and more awful to endure as the years go by.  Mom was always good about getting in for a regular one and often reminded me to keep mine up as well.   I wasn't as good as she was about it and regularly put it off whenever I could.  With my December of 2019 appointment, I was already two years behind.  Luckily for me, once again the results came back just fine.  Not everyone receives that kind of good news with theirs.  

I have been blessed.

Mom passed away only 2 weeks after turning 87, dying at the nursing home back in Hutchinson where she had been for the 4 years prior.  I'm still 23 years away from that particular fate and with all that is in me I don't ever want to have to live in a care facility and I do hope the good Lord sees fit for me to make it to the wonderful age of 100 years old.  Since I have no crystal ball to see into the future, I'll just have to wait right alongside the rest of you to find out what happens at the end of my life's story

Stay tuned.
I'm sure it will be exciting.
You won't want to miss it and neither would I.


Sunset on Cerro Summit in September of 2013
~the mountains near our home in Montrose, Colorado~
Mike and I had only been married 4 months when this was taken.
May we have several good years left to enjoy life with one another.

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