Flashback Friday- Happy 50th Birthday, Mom

I apologize for the late posting of the flashback. I spent all morning at the neurologist, and came home to a sick baby choking on her own snot, with a fever of 101.7. Rough times, folks. But, for future reference, flashbacks are now going to be posted every Friday at 10am. I'm going to set them up ahead of time, so its like clockwork. This way you're not checking in multiple times a day, waiting for the linky to be up. I'm way too flaky these days to do it any other way.



On Sunday, it was my Mom's birthday. Not just any birthday, but her 50th birthday.

I never imagined my parents being 50. As a kid, 50 was an old age, that only grandparents were. And well I guess that makes sense, they are grandparents. But still, when I thought about the future, I could never picture my mom as being 50.

I don't talk about my Mom as much as I do my Dad. We have a very different relationship, her and I. We butt heads, we disagree, we don't understand each other. All the while though, shes still my Mother, and I love her. And especially after having kids of my own, I have a new sort of respect for her. Its not an easy job, this motherhood thing.

One time, I must have been around 6 or 7, my Mom and I had to go out to run errands together during a summer day. I remember stopping at the gas station first, where we bought fountain sodas and fueled the car. And when I picture my mom, when I'm on the phone with her, or when I think about her randomly throughout the day (which I often do), this is the Mother that I picture...

I was waiting at the car, while she went inside to pay for the gas. As she was walking out of the gas station, across the AmPm parking lot- she was beautiful. Her blond curls were full of bounce as she walked, her big white smile reflected the summer day as she reached the car, carrying cherry cokes in her hands, and her confidence and happiness was overpowering. She was gorgeous.

I remember that day we went to the social security office. And maybe the canned food store. But on our way out of a public building, a man holding the door for her made an inappropriate comment towards her ("whoa, you've got yourself some Dolly Parton boobs"), and my mom walked straight past him and ignored it with class.

That day stands out in my memory better than any other day.
Mom, you were beautiful then, and you're beautiful now. I love you.
Happy 50th Birthday.

*************************** So heres what we do. Every week we dig through our memories- old cell phone pictures, polaroids from 1986, something that you pulled out of a dirty shoe box- and we flashback to it. We show it off, and we write about it. We take ourselves back to that place, with as little or as much detail as our hearts are willing to share. Scan it, upload it, copy and paste it from your livejournal (remember those?)- display your memories in whatever way works for you. And then grab out button way down at the bottom of the page there (or link back old fashioned text style), add it to your flashback, add your link to our flashback, and if you've got an extra minute- maybe browse around and read some of the flashbacks left by others. Its just for fun. And really- memories are too precious to be left in an old dirty shoe box.