Friday, May 09, 2014

I lost my mother

When my brother died 4 years ago, I feared that my mother would soon follow him. Happily, she proved strong enough to endure and somewhat recover. Although devastated, she still enjoyed watching her grandchildren grow, meeting friends, following the news, reading books. She never complained of her health, and I hoped she would have more years to live.

She died suddenly on Monday.

The day before, I had been with my sons at a dinner in her home. We did it every week. She always prepared much more food than we could eat and gave the rest in boxes, so that I would not need to cook the next day. Until her very last day, she always cared for her loved ones.

My friend once said the system with the boxes was nice but, as my mother was getting older, hopefully at some moment they would start to travel in the opposite direction, i.e. I would cook and bring food for her. My mother, however, dreaded the very thought of such reversal. She said, "I hope never to live to a day when my child would care for me." And she didn't.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Maya,

What a lovely memory of your mother. It made me think of my grandmother who passed a few years back. Of course the irony if she couldn't cook at all. She always made me the same thing for lunch, Campbell's beef/barely soup out of the can, dinner rolls heated up in the toaster oven and Miller High Life the Champagne of Bottled Beers in a can! ha ha. Keep your memory close. Bill

Maya M said...

Some of our loved ones can cook, others of course can't. It is the love that matters, not the particular way it is expressed!