It's Mother's Day, and even though it's absolutely 100% a Hallmark holiday, it's one of my favorites, because I adore my mother, and I love buying her presents and telling her so. My sister and I seem to have slipped into a fantastic dynamic relationship with my mom. She's one of my favorite people, and I bet if you asked my sister, she'd say much the same thing about my mom. But instead of a gushing tribute to my mom, I'm going to make a list of my five favorite things about her. Here goes:
- She loves loves loves to laugh. And her laugh is contagious. And attractive. She laughs easily, and often, and it's very fun, because you're just laughing right along with her. As a corollary, she's also willing to be goofy and poke fun of herself. Once, she was warning a rabbit in our yard that she was about to let the dog out (not sure why, but she was) and yelled, "Runny, Bun!" She's always willing to laugh about that incident--and we still do.
- She's practical in ways that I'm not. Sometimes that is just helpful. I always turned to my mom for help packing shit, whether it be for a move or a trip, because she's just good at it. She seems to have a knack for it. She's also the best person to have around during a move, because she doesn't tire easily, and I think she loves being helpful. She's an immense help, and I'm not sure how I'd do these things without her. In fact, if I told you how many times I've called her and said something like, "How do I iron again?" or "Wait, tell me again how to hard-boil eggs?" or "What's the best way to bake a potato?" or even, "Help me with my cross-stitch, I need help!" you'd probably be embarrassed for me.
- She's into games. I don't really mean board games, though I suspect she'd happily play board games if we wanted to, but I guess I just mean games in general. She likes computer games, word games, number games--you name it, and she's played it. I'm not sure if it appeals to her love of puzzle-solving, or what, but she's really into that stuff. She even went through a whole period where she played the original Zelda for Nintendo (or Super-NES) all the time. I think she won the game, even.
- She's a great sport. I mean, she'll attempt anything that Kate and I have a mind to attempt. The zoo in February? Okay. The muddy alternative craft fair in Chicago? Sure, why not? Frankenmuth road-trip? Right on. So I guess I mean that she also has a great sense of adventure. My sister, her and I took a trip to Spain together, and though things got a little hairy by the end of the trip (I just needed more alone time than I was getting, and we weren't such big fans of the Spanish cuisine), it was fun. I'd definitely take a trip with my mom and sis again. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that she's game for almost anything. I like that.
- She unabashedly loves pop music. She'd rather listen to one of those NOW compilations than say, the Beatles. Not that she minds the Beatles--she just really enjoys listening to pop. I think it's quirky and hilarious. She also pretty much seems to avoid, in her personal listening, the stuff she grew up listening to. Once she told me that she used to fall asleep every night to Dark Side of the Moon, complete with clanging alarms in that one song. But I bet she hasn't listened to that album in YEARS. Isn't that funny?
I'm sure there are five million other things I could tell you that I love about my mom (just came to me now--her love of all things Xmas. Love that about her.), but I'd probably at some point start to be boring. Anyway, I love you, Mom. I don't know what I'd do without you.
Thank you for the loving tribute. You made me feel loved and you made my day. mom
Posted by: Karen Romano | May 14, 2006 at 09:37 PM