Health & Fitness
"Lessons Learned Last Weekend From My Mom"
What a wild weekend! Read about lessons learned after a memorable slumber party with my 82-year old mother and hip sister.
Who better to spend the weekend with than my 82-year-old mother and hip sister? We had initial plans to sleep at my mom's, go out for lunch, go out for dinner and after breakfast in the morning, leave for New York City and go to an art museum.
This is what we did instead.
We met at my mother's apartment and went to the supermarket to pick up a picnic lunch. Mom loved pushing the cart as we went up and down the aisles trying to decide what to eat. Soup? Sushi? Sandwiches?
We made our selections, checked out and, since my mother lives near the water, drove to the beach. The winds were howling on this below-freezing day, so we stayed in the car, watched the waves and shared stories that have transformed to family folklore. We tried to push conversation to the present... but sometimes, reminiscing can be so delicious.
Late afternoon, we headed to Starbucks. While sipping concoctions of lattés and macchiatos, we agreed to kibosh the dinner reservation at a local restaurant. Our updated itinerary was revised: pick up take-out, return to my mother's place and get into our pajamas. It was one of the best decisions we made all day.
Mom's apartment, a former classroom in a renovated elementary school, was homey, with lamps gently lit with 40-watt bulbs. My sister's and my visit brought out her 1960's housewife charm as she threw on a red apron with big gingham pockets and set the same table at which we ate most of our meals while growing up. The plates reminded me of dinners in our old house, and looking around the living room, I could imagine my father (who had passed away 27 years ago this month) sitting on the sofa. Each clang of the grandfather clock reminded me of being a little girl. ...
