It’s the little things

I have been my mothers’ caregiver for six years. We have had a few close calls with health issues in the first couple of years,  so we had some conversations I believe most people avoid. You know “the elephant in the room” kind of issues. In our family the thing we never really talked about was how we felt, that thing called feelings or emotions.  Instead we tried to say what we thought you wanted to hear, or so it seemed in  my reality.

After my mother decided on “comfort care” I was sitting with her in the hospital and was telling her how happy I was that we had spent the last years together. Saying how much I loved her, how I had known her longer then any one else on this planet. I told her how happy I was I had gotten the chance to work on my mother/daughter issues (which I’m sure she went along with to keep me happy), not being of that generation that even worried about mother/daughter issues.  So when I suggested to her in my 60’s cosmic awareness kinda  way how maybe next time around I would  be the mother and she would  be my daughter. She gave me not exactly the evil eye  but “that look” and said  in a gutter ball voice  ” I hope not.buzgracewater  And then we laughed.

22 months in

I spent my second Christmas with my Nana and Papa while my mother was in the hospital with the new baby brother. My mother says I didn’t want a baby brother.   She was right, I wasn’t ready for someone else taking the attention away from me. I already knew what that felt like as my cousin Timmy was born just a couple of months after me and I had been sharing the spotlight with him ever since. Every time I came to visit Nana and Papa there he was. Timmy is in all of my pictures usually standing right next to me. Sometimes we are holding hands. In most of my holiday pictures I have a big toothy smile on my chubby face except for this year. In a faded black and white photo I am staring at the table where the train is. It is an electric train that goes around a single track but in my baby memory it is the most exciting toy I have ever seen. It whizzes around the track so fast I can barely keep up with it and the sound of the train rattling entrances me. There is only one problem; the train is not for me it is for Timmy. Santa how could you?

My present is a Lady Alexander doll. The doll is exquisitely dressed in a period piece. She is in a box with a see through top so you can look but not touch. No brushing this dolls hair or taking off her clothes to see what she looks like naked.

The next Christmas I start making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Santa. buztrain     Every Christmas Eve I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a big glass of milk St. Nick, the reindeer got celery and carrot sticks.

On Christmas morning while my brother ran to check out the presents I inspected the plate to make sure the food was gone. I never worried about the sandwich, as I knew if Santa didn’t eat it my dad would. It was the celery and carrots sticks I was concerned about. There was no way my dad would eat those so if they were gone for sure Santa had been there. I even looked in the icebox and then the garbage to make sure mom hadn’t thrown them away. Relieved to find no trace of the veggies I could now go and check out the presents under the tree.

My Christmas present

I just found this picture of my mom. She is in Lahaina, maybe that is her boat Amazing Grace. She is wearing the classic Lahaina yacht club tee shirt, they don’t make that shirt anymore. Grace was also a classic and I like looking at this picture of her relaxing, enjoying, happy. It’s Christmas eve and I picked up her ashes today, so she will be with me for Christmas. gracerest

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas

Mummy never thought she was creative, but she certainly was when it came to Christmas. She worked hard at making the tree look beautiful, loads of brightly wrapped presents and we were always well dressed. For a moment everything stopped and we were a happy family with stockings stuffed with silly toys and Christmas carols blaring from the record player. It didn’t last long. but it’s still a good memory.buzgrace christmas

Naughty and nice

buz&tommyxmasOne year my little brother and I woke up early and went out to the living room to make sure Santa had come. The rule was we were to wake mom and dad before we went into the living room but it was much too early to do that. So we snuck in the living room and looked at  out our presents maybe even opening up one or two before we went back to bed. The next morning we made sure to act surprised.

My Christmas gift to you

Do you have someone special that you don’t know what to get them for Christmas? I have a suggestion.
I want to share this gift with you
I hope you will appreciate it and use it often.
The most wonderful gift you can give someone is to listen.
Let them know you care and then step back and let them talk.
No matter how much you want to help, don’t.
Just listen and maybe make agreeable sounds quietly,
Cooing noises,
But don’t talk
Don’t share your experience,
Don’t try to fix it.
Nobody listens anymore,
We are all so busy
Making sure we are heard
Before we disappear in this age of speed.
Be in the present for the person who just needs you to be there
And listen.
It’s ok to pretend to listen if that is what it takes, just nod out loud.
My gift to you
My gift to me
Merry Christmas

Kathy wants to be a writer when she grows up.  Unfortunately Kathy is grown up and still not writing, She has many books on writing and how to write and what to write and when to write and where to write and even books on writers who share their secrets on writing.

      She read that writers often have rituals they do before they start the “process.” Some have prayers or a verse that they read, pictures that they look at or candles they light before they begin.

     Kathy has collected positive affirmations over the years she hopes will help her creativity.   Along with thanking the universe for filling her head with all the clever ideas that she will put on paper she also has a new exercise to do before she begins. She read that she should do 26 figure eight neck rolls, which will open, up her fifth chakra that represents communication.

     Sitting at the computer waiting for the gods to speak she notices how painful her neck feels after the exercises. Kathy has neck problems from the ceiling of a drug store falling on her head more than twenty years ago.  How am I going to work with this pain?

      I could take a pain pill, but she knows that if she does she will get sleepy and not want to sit at the computer.  “I know, I’ll take a toke that will take my mind off the pain,” Kathy says this out loud as she is known for talking to herself.    She rolls a slender doobie, licks the edges and lights up. After a couple of tokes she no longer notices the discomfort in her neck and shoulders.

       Sitting at her writing desk she arranged in the corner, she stares out the window at the trees. This is the place she imagined she would type her stories.  Only a couple of minutes go by before she realizes she needs to eat before she gets  “low blood sugar, “ known as cranky.  Opening the door to the fridge she stares at the carrots, celery, eggs, oranges, dog food can and jars of condiments and thinks “there’s nothing to eat.”

     What Kathy really wants is a juicy cheeseburger with fries from the “Flying Pink Pig” that is just down the hill from where she lives.  The burger is not on the list of healthy choices but the idea, just like a good story is stuck in her head and will not go away. It’s not long before she is in her Volkswagen Beetle headed down the hill.

     Kathy gets her food to go and would have gotten home sooner if she hadn’t got caught behind a school bus that made frequent stops and was going in her direction.  She ends up eating her meal in the car as she does the “stop and go” dance with the bus back up the hill.

      Her dog is waiting for her at the door and she remembers she hasn’t taken her for a walk yet. She grabs the leash and outside they go.

     When Kathy gets back to her cottage she notices her computer is open and goes over to shut it down. There on the screen her Word document is open.  She stares at the blank page.