If you can read the words on this pillow please imagine my sister and I along with my mom singing this at the top of our lungs in high operatic voices and you can get a feeling for life lived with a really funny mom.  My mom’s sense of silly was sublime.  She could break down in laughter at the smallest of funnies. She even requested us to do a “silly”, which could mean a ridiculous walk, song or face.  My dad was an amazing co-creator in her world of “lets put on a show”.  Judy Garland never had a better Mickey Rooney than my mom and dad together.  My mom’s ability to break out into song or dance was a source of much embarrassment but now in looking back it was glorious.  Thank goodness for a collection of 16mm films that capture my mom flickering on the screen doing the wackiest dance you will ever see, and underneath the silliness is someone who was a quite good dancer.  She expected all guests to perform, say a poem, do a skit, or sing a song. She insisted we be prepared for this as we made our way in the world, but to our surprise we have had few occasions to pull our tap shoes out of our purse.  But you never know.

These musings about my mother are prompted by the joyful event of my daughter becoming a mother herself.  She will be that soothing voice, firm hand, or cooling touch. She will sing and dance her way into the heart of her little boy and that bond will last forever, stronger than any force in nature.  She will find her way through the maze of events called childhood with the support of her mom and she will draw on the lessons learned from amazing grandmothers before her.  May everyday going forward for her be mother’s day.

 

Welcome to our world Campbell Patrick Comer

 

 

“I want to describe myself
like a painting that I looked at
closely for a long time,
like a saying that I finally understood,
like the pitcher I use every day,
like the face of my mother,
like a ship
that carried me
through the wildest storm of all.”

-Rilke