Some additions: My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it." My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!" My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!" My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do." My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.. "Just wait till your father gets home!" My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way." My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?" My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me." My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up." My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father." My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?" My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand." And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!
On a serious note, I have to say that I really miss my Mum, Little Ivy, Mrs. J. even though she’s been gone a long time. I still miss her laugh that sounded like a machine gun, low and gravelly. I miss the way she’d call me “luv,” and how she always complained, every time she washed her hair, that she couldn’t do a thing with it. I miss that bright red lipstick. I miss those steel gray eyes, whether they were boring into me from over the top of her glasses, or made huge and liquid through those magnified lenses. She was a tiny woman, short and thin and frail looking, and she looked like she’s break with the first gust of wind.....until she gave out one of her legendary hugs, so strong and embracing that I wondered how she didn’t snap my bones, even as I felt profoundly comforted. Most of all I miss how she loved me, fiercely and with everything she had, and then more. I never once questioned that love. I took it for granted a lot, but never ever for even a moment doubted it. If my legacy to my own kids is one tenth as enduring as hers is to me, then I’ve not disappointed her, and I’ve made her proud.
