My Mom at her 90th Birthday Party March 2010.
My mother has now been gone for over two years. Though I know she is gone, in many ways, she is still here with me.
I am sure this is probably true for everyone who has lost a loved one.
As gracious as my mother was, she did have some quirky, annoying habits. It is those habits that make me smile and laugh each day now as her presence is never far from me.
Mom’s most annoying, quicky habits appeared on any road trips, short or long, she took with my own family. Whether they appeared when she was with my brother or sister, I don’t know. But they did come out even when she was a passenger in my daughter or son-in-law’s car.
On our trips, Mom normally sat behind the passenger front seat. In other words, right behind me.
If I looked at the map so I would know which freeway exit or street we should take, Mom would immediately ask to see it. It didn’t matter that I needed the map to guide us to our destination, she had to look at it. One time, I did actually get her her own set of maps. But I still had to give her mine so she would know what I was looking at.
But it didn’t stop there. Once I gave Mac the exit we were looking for, Mom would start reading each road sign out loud. That included every bridge, river, or stream name sign or freeway informational sign we passed. Each time she read the sign, the word “see”, at a higher pitch, would follow. Mom would do this as she leaned up towards the front seat, speaking right into my ear. I was always surprised that I didn’t start twitching before we got to our destination.
On any road trip, the gas gauge was one of Mom’s favorite fascinations. The moment the gauge needle landed at the halfway mark or just below, we would be informed where the needle sat and we should stop for gas. She continued to tell us this as the needle got lower and lower. Intersperse between this, Mom would be offering to buy our gas as we passed one station after another until we did finally stopped. And let’s not forgot, she also told us the name of most of those gas stations as we passed them followed by “see.”
Now whenever we go on a road trip, long or short, we all do this. Though we don’t get actual paper maps now, we all have our iPhones’ maps set to where we are going, just in case, one of them fails. We read out loud the signs on the road to be annoying to everyone else in the car. We always check the gas gauge just to make sure the driver knows we are watching it, then shout out the names of the gas stations as they roll by. And we never, ever forget to attach the famous “see” at the end.
As much as all of this annoyed me then, it is now one of my fondest memories of her.
Mom, today, you would have been 93. Happy Birthday! I’m sure you are celebrating it with Dad, your parents, and all of your siblings.
I miss you, quirky habits and all!