See that photo up there? That's my mother, second from the right in the back row. All the rest of those wonderful people are her brothers, sisters, and their surviving spouses. All six of Grandma's kids are still alive and only two are widows. I think that's pretty impressive.
There are some funny stories about my mom. She's a bit eccentric, although someone made her day not too long ago by telling her she was "quirky". For someone who's kinda shy and more than a bit of an introvert, she's a lot of fun. I think that's part of why she's the goofy way she is - it's her way of coping with the world and people around her. It's also one of the things I love so much about her.
I was talking with my friend, Corvus, a couple of weeks after Dad passed away and he asked about my mom. He was wondering if she was still living since I never talked about her much. Actually, I probably wouldn't have talked about Dad as much if it weren't for driving him to appointments and such. (He was quiet and retiring as well.) Now, the really funny part of this is that Corvus met my mother just a few months ago at Eldest Daughter's birthday party. She's the one who put the giant fuzzy purple spider on his son's head.
I love my mom. She's given up a lot over the year's for my sister and I. Like many moms, when times are tight, she's gone without so we could have. I'd like to think life rewarded her a bit when it brought my step-father into the picture. Life hasn't always been easy and we still don't always understand each other, but I see more of her in myself every day....and I'm at an age where I'm fairly okay with that.
