My Mother the Sage

I remember Mom telling me something very profound, long before it ever became a plaque. I think it was in response to me observing out loud how thankful I was that she wasn't like some kids' moms, who were always chasing them out/not letting them inside after school because they were "cleaning" (which to me meant that they were more interested in appearances than they were in their kids).

Mom said, "Marianne, at the end of my life, God is not going to judge me on whether people could eat off my floors. I will be judged more on things like whether I was available for my children."

Mom and her brother George, 09-05-1936

Color TV

I grew up without a color TV. We had 2 black-and-whites, and they weren't broken, so....no need to replace them. (I still remember seeing a favorite show on someone else's TV, and being shocked that the main character had blue eyes!)

All that changed during one of my summers home from college, when my college roommate was staying with me and my family for the summer. We had decided to buy a color TV to take back with us to college, so we bought one and triumphantly carted it home with us to proudly display.

Ironic, isn't it, that my father suddenly decided that he needed one after he saw ours.

So the next weekend we were on our way home, turning into our development's main street, and saw my father about to pull out on the same street. (We learned later that he was on his way to buy his own color TV.) Both car drivers did one of those classic "screech-to-a-stop-and-reverse" moves so we could say hello to each other.

My shy, quiet mother -- with no prompting -- leaned out of the car and said to her husband, "Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?"

"Jesus Wants Me to Have a Dog..."

I remember Mom saying that she had scarlet fever at approximately 6 or 7 years of age. Since she was born in 1928, this would have been 1935 or thereabouts. So not only was she sick, they were all in the middle of the Great Depression, and my grandfather was an electrical contractor (i.e., he most likely was not employed full-time). 

People used to die from scarlet fever...but of course she didn't know that at her age. (Thank You, God!) 

Mom remembered that she had wanted a dog for a while before she got sick, but wasn't allowed to have one. (In retrospect, it was probably because a dog was an un-needed expense.)

So she told her parents that she heard Jesus calling her - and that Jesus wanted her to have a dog, or He would take her away to live with Him.

I said, "MOTHERRRRR! You naughty girl!!!"

To which she replied, "Hey, it worked - I got the dog!"

My mother has dementia. She's had it for a few years, but it seems to be progressing faster lately.

This is what I posted on Facebook the other day:
There is an impostor living at my parents' house where I grew up. This person looks a little like (an older version of) my mother, but she isn't my mother.
My mother wouldn't have to ask one of her children in what year she was married-she would know that information.
My mother wouldn't say her birthday was in January when it's actually February 16th.
My mother is not frail and tottery. 

THAT WOMAN IS AN IMPOSTOR AND I WANT *MY* MOTHER BACK.

I feel like I've been spending so much of my time dealing with and trying to process this "new normal" that I've started forgetting what she used to be like. What she really is like, underneath this disease that's taken her hostage. Hence this blog.

Read it if you want to. Don't read it if you want to. Comment if you want to - if you can do so in a positive manner.

Marion Evelyn Moger Boyce, circa 1968, in the living room of 77 Autumn Rd in Churchville where I grew up