As I mentioned on FB this weekend, I was fortunate to have two wonderful mothers. One, my birth mother and the mother of my childhood. The other, my step-mother and the mother of my adult life. Both were warm, loving, determined and funny. They both had subtle, dry senses of humor that are part of my special memories of them. So - here are two stories.
I must have been about 3, no more than 4, and I was playing in the backyard. My mother was at the kitchen sink and could look out the window and see me playing and that I was safe and happy. All of a sudden I came screaming and frightened, truly frightened, running into the house. "Mama, there's a wolf in the yard!!" Being aware of the totally empty yard, my mother looked at me and quietly said, "Well, invite him into lunch." Immediately the energy shifted. Having always been dramatic, I turned on my heel, flung open the screen door, bowed deeply and said "Mr. Wolf, please, come in to lunch." Looking back at my mother, our eyes met and she smiled and I laughed and I had learned something about the wisdom of play.
Fast forward many years. I now had a step-family and the youngest was a man about a month older than I was. We both had dark hair and greyed at about the same rate. One weekend, I went to Dallas to visit my parents and as it was in our family, I attended church with them. The next weekend, this step-brother went to Dallas to visit our parents and as it was in our family, he attended church with them. The next weekend, a woman who was new to the church, commented to my step-mother, how much he and I looked alike. She smiled and said, "That's true. I think it must be because he is only a month older than she is." The woman smiled, nodded, walked away and ~ stopped. She shook her head and kept going. Mama Bear and I got a good laugh out of it later and I had learned something about not saying any more than was necessary in the moment.
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