What? Me Worry?

One of my mothers sage advices was, "Tie a string around your finger and you'll remember it." That never made sense to me. several times I tied a string for something then forgot why I had a stupid string tied to my finger.

Years later I was sitting outside a Baskin-Robbins watching people and one woman seemed confused, checking several different small shops. She stopped, looked at her left hand then turned and walked back several stores before entering one.

When the drop of melted ice cream hit my bare leg I woke and realized what I’d seen. She’d held her hand up and a piece of white yarn was tied around her middle finger. It’s amazing what a realization like that feels like; a hot cocoa on a cold winters night, that first sip of good coffee in the morning, a cool glass of tea on a hot summers day... a feeling of warm comfort that wraps around you and cuddles.

Other things she’d said had made sense over the years. “Keep a song in your heart and a smile on your face,” was another and in my twenties I figured out it was about my attitude toward life. The better I felt internally, the better the world was. It’s all about how I feel, not how things make me feel.

It’s amazing how smart our parents become after we leave home and start our own lives. One of my biggest stress relievers comes from her. Some where around 12 years old I overheard my mother and a friend talking. My mother had borrowed $50 dollars from someone and her friend asked if she was worried. My mother’s answer was, “Why should I worry, I owe it to him.” It’s an incredibly freeing thought.

I miss you, mommy.