From the heart of a daughter, asking for prayers for my Mom

My Mom is having surgery tomorrow.

I am beside myself with worry.

My Mom, Rita, is 86 years old and as her “baby” sister calls her, “A tough cookie!”

I know my Mom is a tough cookie.  She is the second oldest of 6 siblings in her family… the first daughter and oldest of 4 girls.

My Mom is the one who left her home and family in Boston to follow my Dad, a “Navy-man” as he was called back then, to travel and live all over this country with 1, then 2 (that would be me) and then 3 young kids.  My Mom was often home alone for months and months at a time while my Dad was out-to-sea.

Like most Navy wives back in the 50’s, my Mom took over all the responsibilities of home and family while being 3,000 miles or so from her own extended family.  I remember my Mom as a dynamo of activity and organization… scheduling everything and anything a bunch of kids could do.

I remember my Mom reading books upon books to my brothers and me every single night.  It’s these nights of books that created my love of reading and learning and exploring.

My Mom was an exercise enthusiast well before anyone knew about the bandwagon of exercise.  She was a pioneer… but I thought every Mommy did cartwheels, jumped rope, skipped, ran races with us kids, rode bikes, hula-hooped and actually swam in pools and the ocean with her kids.  By the time I was a teenager, I knew that my Mom was different from my friends’ Moms when she took up golf in her late 40’s and learned how to bowl like a champ.

The funny thing is that my Mom is tiny… like 4’7″ tiny.  Most people see tiny as frail.

Frail she is not… in mind, body or spirit.

When my Dad died suddenly at age 47, my Mom went to work.  She literally went door-to-door at any office she could find… because her background was in secretarial work.  She got a job 3 weeks after my Dad died and her world as she knew it had ceased to be.

My Mom would work for a couple of decades… always setting aside some $ and some time for her jaunts around the world.  She traveled mostly with her cousin, to places of her dreams.

She’s a tough cookie, all right.

My Mom suffers with debilitating arthritis, spinal stenosis and a severe hearing loss from childhood… but nothing, nothing stops her.  She walks at least a mile a day, up and down the long corridors of her senior housing complex… with no cane or walker.  She needs hearing aids, so she gets hearing aids.  She doesn’t want to miss a thing.

My Mom is still angry with me that I dared take her license away from her.  She may have lost some of her independence, but she didn’t lose her spirit.  (And anyway, I took the rap for her doctor 4 years ago when he told me, “Your Mom cannot drive anymore.”)

My Mom discovered the “senior bus” for trips to the Senior Center for, what else?… exercise.  She gets her hair done once a week.  She goes to the mall to shop… because she is the original fashionista.  She smells a bargain a mile away.  My Mom gave me my love for high heels and just recently she went to all flats.

My Mom will never miss an opportunity for breakfast, lunch, dinner or an ice cream sundae.  If I call and say, “Mom, I’m picking you up in 10 minutes,” she’ll be ready in full make-up, lovely hair and the cutest matching outfits and jewelry you’ve ever seen.

When it comes to her great-grandchildren… well, they are the only children who ever existed.  She doesn’t miss a birthday party, an impromptu dinner,  a sporting event if she can maneuver the stairs, a Wii Bowling game or an opportunity to read books to them.

Full circle.

I see my childhood in the way my Mom looks at and loves her great-grandchildren.  They are joy and love.  Plain and simple.

My Mom may be a tough cookie… but I’m not right now.

I am beside myself with worry and I ask for your prayers for my Mom to get through her surgery perfectly.

I ask you this, and thank you, with a full heart…

 

 

 

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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7 Comments

  1. 10.11.11
    Poppy said:

    Our best thoughts for her successful surgery. xoxo

  2. 10.11.11

    Awww, your mom sounds just as amazing as you! I will definitely be praying for her and for peace, strength and comfort for you! All my love to you both! xoxo

  3. 10.11.11
    Barry said:

    My prayers are with you Rita. As Mother-in-laws go…you’re the best!
    It won’t be long before we’ll all be out having dinner at your favorite spots…GREGGS and Chelos again.

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