My Mom is Amazing

 

I wanted to copy this post from my moms blog
because I see in it how I am SO much like her.
She writes with eloquence here and note - this
is not a boring blog! My mom is the most real,
the most genuine person I will ever know. Enjoy..

I've been tagged by Gangadhar to list 8
things about myself, and if I give it much
thought I will probably stall and not do it, out
of sheer fright of 'exposure'! But, I just had a
cup of coffee, and I'm revved up, so here
goes....stuff that just enters my mind:


1. I'm constantly pondering human nature,
its current definition and its possibilities and
its limitations. (this would have been my exact answer!)
All over the world I see the
effects of poverty and injustice, and I wonder
if we are stuck with an abysmal sense of
human worth. Because if we thought and
lived better, we'd upgrade what it meant to
be human.

2. I would prefer to live in the country, so
that when I wake up in the morning there is
just a vast image of pastoral beauty. Snow-
capped mountains are great, and so is a
bubbling stream, and deer in a meadow.
(Bucolic fantasies, shaped in childhood. ) I
now live in a 'working class town', a city that
is a sister to Seattle, with its cargo ships and
shipyards, its wonderful mix of cultures and
ethnicities. When I grew up in Montana,
Indians were the only other race, and they
were so marginalized we never saw them.
When I was young, I never questioned that.



3. I enjoy going for daily walks through the
campus of the University of Puget Sound, so
that I can listen to the conversations of the
students as they pass me on the walkway. I
walk along in a T-shirt, jeans, and hiking
boots, and the girls who pass wear little
shirts with thin straps, with indeterminate
waistlines, with each layer hitting a different
belly-mark, showing skin and a summer tan.
These girls seem totally distracted by the
man-woman thing to have any comprehension
of academics and life in the world. They sit
on the grass and preen, like turkeys, and
hope that the boys throwing the football on
the commons will glance their way. They
have a book on their lap, but talk with great
animation on their cell-phone, about alcohol
and a party on the weekend. I don't think
things have changed much in the past 40
years with these young folk on campus - just
the props are different. I feel sorry for them,
for the limitations that they experience. It will
get better.


(Mom with her twin Bonnie)

4. Politics have always been difficult for me
to comprehend. It always seems more
theatrical than prudent and effective. I am
appalled at the partisan divisions that create
so much strife and backbiting, which
ultimately delay real progress. I also have to
admit my own intellectual limitations - there
is much that my mind simply can't contain.
It's all too complicated, a network of impaired
relationships and poor communication....all
in need of massive cleaning up so that some
real work can get done. I hope this happens
someday.



5. My mind 'drops' information that I wish it
would keep, because it could be useful later.
Like names - I have a hard time
remembering the names of some of the
residents I took care of when I worked as a
caregiver. Frequently I'll remember them,
with the greatest fondness, and doggone-it if
I can't remember their name. I'll remember
bathing them, dressing them, organizing
their closet - even remember all their habits -
but, I'll not remember their name.
Sometimes, I imagine the gates of Heaven
are lined with these old ones, and when I
arrive I'd like to be able to say, "Hi Dorothy!",
"There you are, Shirley". You see if I can't
remember their name, they might think they
weren't important to me - and they were.



6. I have enormous difficulty with small-talk,
or extended language on anything (even
writing). Growing up, out in Montana, I greatly
appreciate the succinct language and writing
of the ranchers there - like words spoken
during a windstorm or snowstorm, shouted
across vast distances. They keep it simple,
unflourished, unpretentious - "storm's
comin' up". Those few words conjur up all
kinds of stuff that has to be processed
privately, quickly. No time for more words.
Everyone will be thinking about the work
they have to do, and how to get it done. I
also love the dialogue of children, for the
same reasons. (And, the simple dialogue in
"The Color Purple", where the language fits
the character, Celie, making her so real.)



7. I would like to see history written in the
context of 'spirit' and 'human evolution', not
just territorial disputes and wars and politics.
That part of history is tedious, and I forgot all
the details of who won what war due to what
grievance. When I was in high school, taking
world history, I just loved map-making, the
migrations and settlements, the rise of
civilization in Mesopotamia, and the new
inventions making communication and
travel so easy. I wondered what is ahead for
all of us and how does one prepare children
for the greater world, a world filled with so
much conflict and violence. One of my
concerns is language, how it is used, and
the impact it has. Some day I think a book
will be written on how we perpetuate 'poor
practices' due to poor communication skills.
Good communication will be one of the
challenges when we attempt to promote
global collaboration in order to improve people's lives.



8. And, of course, all of you know by now
that I cherish seeing my children, listening to
them, watching them, being with them. They
are all sooooooo different, like desserts.
Ruhu'llah could be lemon merangue pie;
Ruhiyyih, apple pie; Laurel, chocolate cream;
Taraz, pumpkin; and Rahmat, pecan pie! All
of them, my favorite! And, those flavors do
fit them, they know why.

..I love you Mom