Monday "Memories" With My Mom

Sometimes S'mores Can Be Bittersweet...
   Although last week's post indicated I would have an update on my mom and her current Medicaid/living situation, I had something I wanted to share in the meantime.  A recent "Aha Moment" (love you Oprah) I had.  Here it is.....
     On one of our recent "cooler" (not over 80 degrees) summer evenings we had a little impromptu bonfire in the backyard...just my husband, "Lucky", and J and K attended.  Megan was at camp and I stayed inside with my mom.  (It was late and the mosquitos were biting.)  My kids made s'mores outside and Jacob and Kristin brought one in for me and one for their Grandma.  My mom and I were pleasantly surprised.  My mom mentioned that they were as messy and good as when she was a Girl Scout.  My mom thanked them and repeated how good it was, many times!
     And then it hit me...  What if that was the last s'more my mom ever has...  She probably hasn't had one in years.  How sad that would be.  I don't know if and when she will be around for another one of our bonfires, and I doubt that they are very popular in senior living communities.  It made me want to give her as many as she wanted or wish that it was the prettiest, most perfectly served s'more ever...but it wasn't.  It was an unexpected surprise given to my mom by her 11-year-old granddaughter on a cool August night.  She sure did enjoy it!  Again a life lesson...what was really important was that she enjoyed it!  Just like life.  You don't need to remember what you did yesterday to enjoy the here and now... or even what you are going to do tomorrow.  You don't need to know whether you will ever have another (fill in the blank) or s'more.  Just enjoy the moment.  Savor it.  Be thankful for it.  Nobody really ever knows which s'more will be their last... 

     Often when I pick my mom up from her "Senior Club" she does not recall any of the details of her activities of the day.  She knows only one thing...that she had fun!!  She is living life in the moment right now, quite literally.  A couple of years ago I found it so odd when my mom would ask for lunch and I would tell her, "you already had lunch" and she would say "did I like it", and I would say "yes" and she would say "good".  How funny is that!!??  Now, it is not an odd conversation for us to have.  And, I am happy to tell her she enjoyed it.  Afterall, isn't that all that really matters. 
     Are you enjoying life here and now....in the moment!??  This is not the first time I have learned this lesson, nor will it be the last.  But more and more...things are becoming bittersweet and I have these moments of clarity and profoundness that I never had before.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, TODAY is a gift.

That is why it is called "The Present"...

THE STATION


By Robert J. Hastings

         TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and, from the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving atcrossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row
upon row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and village halls.


    But uppermost in our conscious minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a given day, our train will finally pull into the station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly, we pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.


    "Yes, when we reach the station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're
eighteen. . . win that promotion. . . put the last kid through college. . . buy that 450SL
Mercedes-Benz. . . have a nest egg for retirement!"


    From that day on we will all live happily ever after.


    Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no station in this life, no one earthly
place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The station is an illusion--it
constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to a history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset, tomorrow's a faint sunrise. Only today is there light enough to love and live.


    So, gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.


    "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is
the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."


     So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, swim more rivers, climb more
mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry less. Go barefoot oftener.  Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.