The Bonus Gift of School. My Mother

Interesting thoughts have invaded my mind since starting the short term writing class at Hunter.  My mother has been on my mind.  Quite fitting since tomorrow is Mother's Day.

My daughter told me recently that  she senses her gramma Rita by my side through this new adventure.  I was taken aback as my mom (Rita) and i were not close.  Even after her death, i have not felt close to her.  My pop is a different story.  Daddy has been my guide in a very personal way since his death.  He has seen me through some rough spots and guided my journey.  I speak to him almost daily and he answers.

Mom tried i think, but her way and my way clashed for some reason.  It was hard for her to express love.  My siblings and i agree that mother was not as affectionate as dad.  In fact she could be cold. I'm realizing she maybe didn't know how.

People loved my mother.  I often heard, growing up, that she was the best nurse in the whole Rogue Valley. She was an RN who loved her job so much that she even volunteered at the nursing home for years and also would administer to the migrant workers, every summer, who came to pick pears.  I never felt she neglected us, but i can't quite put my finger on my moms lack of warmth.

My writing class however, has awakened in me memories of my mom and writing.  She loved to write and always had beautiful stationery and the perfect pen.   She also had beautiful  hand writing.  She would often decorate my birthday cards and envelopes with lovely detailed artistic script like calligraphy only it was mom's version.  I am sad to say that with all my moves, any cards that i had kept are gone.   She always insisted on correct grammar and proper spelling.  I do remember many times her pride in my writing papers that occasionally got A's or B's.  The only A's i would really ever get.

My writing class, with the perfect instructor, has been such a gift in so many ways.  I am learning new ways of construction and am hoping to be able to put them to use in my blog and maybe more.  My daughters gift to me was a reminder of my mother.  I notice a certain new feeling settling in that just might be my mother standing at my side.

"Move over pop, you have company".