Mama was a brave little thing. Once when I was little and afraid of the dark, she asked me, "Don’t you think that if there were something to be afraid of, that I'd be afraid too?"
"Heck NO!" I thought to myself. She was never afraid.
After we moved to Pennsylvania 33 years ago, she would fly from California to see us at least once a year. She would stay for a minimum of a month, and sometimes longer.
She was easy company. In fact, she wasn't company at all. She just fit in naturally with us. The year the kids discovered MTV, Mama sat her little self down and sang right along. She particularly loved Twisted Sister. Once while watching MTV with Aral PPP, she turned and said, "I don’t think all of this is live." Perceptive the little Yoda was.
Another year we were watching the news when a story came on about an airplane that had to land in foam because the wheels wouldn’t come down. Mama said, "That happened to me last year. We came down a slide to exit the plane."
"WHAT? You never said a word about it! Why didn’t you tell me?"
"You always say call you when I get home okay. I did call you when I got home okay."
Besides it turned out her plane's wheels HAD been down, but somehow the instruments showed differently. So she figured it was just a false alarm, and not worthy of a true story. Plus that was just the first leg of the trip. The second half of the trip was uneventful. Why bring up old news? Was she afraid to get on the second plane?
"No. I told you the wheels were actually down. There wasn't any problem at all." (What about that slide? No point in asking. Probably thought it was fun.)
Fifteen years ago she had a stroke on the plane returning home to the S.F. bay area. She didn't tell anyone on the plane that she was having a stroke. Why?
"I figured that they would land in Chicago for a medical emergency, and I don't know anyone in Chicago." Life was simple to Mama.
She told them as they were landing, and she was taken to the hospital from the airport. Worked out fine. She ended up having an operation on a vein in her neck, and she had no residual problems at all.
Tiny, funny, brave little Mama.
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18 comments:
I love these stories. She seems so self-contained. Like that Bob Dylan song: "She's got everything she needs/she's an artist/she don't look back." xoxoxo
Your mother had to be the queen of zen. Did anything bother her??
What a character. She didn't just wanna Rock, she did it. I love that she loved Twisted Sister. The phrase "You're worthless and weak!" still comes out of me at odd moments.
Mama wasn't afraid of anything for HERSELF. She would worry her little self about ME, all the way across the country.
Mama calls: "I called you last night. Niks said you were out. That was too late for you to be out alone." I was a grown woman, mother of four, and she thought I needed a curfew.
What a great story. It brings back lots of memories about my mom, who was always the calming influence in our house.
She would have drawn the line at MTV, though. Instead, a crossword puzzle would have been the order of the day.
I can still hear her sing "Who can it beeee now?" along with the Men at Work video ... what a hoot she was, and SO with it.
There was ONE thing she feared ... that she would miss one of her programs.
She sounds like a brave Christian woman.
What an awesome lady! More Mama stories plleeeaasseeee!
"...I don't know anyone in Chicago." Gack! Mama the humor writer. A fine story, Lucy P.
What a marvellous story about a very pragmatic soul.
Moms...you just have to love em.
Very nice post- beautifully written in a way that captures her well. Thank you- I really enjoyed this.
The world needs lots of people like your mom.
What an awesome soul your mom was! And I can see that she raised a wonderful daughter, and for that matter, the entire pez family seems to be great women!
Thanks for all your kind and good wishes, tan lucy! The pezs are a class act!
I am back to blogging, and have a new profocative topic up today.
We really love your stories
hi lucy...this is my first time here, and i'm loving it!! i'll be back lots, you tell stories SO well!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!
My kids were young teens when MTV started, and I thought it was the most exciting thing ever shown on TV. They didn't. How strange. It wasn't until I started watching "Absolutely Fabulous" that I realized what was really going on.
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