Yesterday, KT came in to the room, took one look at me and asked it I was cold. I answered her that I was a bit chilled and wondered why she had asked. She implied that it might have something to do with the fact that I was wearing shoes…something that I do as little as possible. She also pointed out that the heater was on. And that I was wearing a heavy sweater. Oh yes, and the beanie cap snug on my head. I just gave her a dirty look as her baby sister brought me a nice thick blanket. Then I asked her if she knew where we had put the mittens last spring.
I have no idea why I was so cold yesterday. The weather is starting to chill but it was still a nice balmy day. I think it has something to do with my mother. I can remember laughing at her for some of the get-ups she wore because she was cold. Thick woolen socks, ear muffs, a few scarves as a time…I have no idea where she got some of her bits and pieces. We lived in San Diego, not exactly the Artic North. I guess she was just very creative.
Another of my mother’s quirks was that she would constantly get lost. Mom kept a little notebook in her glove compartment with directions to her favorite shops so she would always know how to get there. She always hestitated to venture out to new places because she hadn’t drawn a map to them yet. It was quite possible that she could be lost in her hometown for an hour or so, just wandering around, trying to find her bearings. As a teen, I always thought this was hysterical…until it started happening to me. I just couldn’t remember how to get to certain places that I had been to oodles of times before. Like last week when Mimi was late to her soccer game because I couldnt’ remember where the field was. I ended up waiting in a gas station so that one of my friends could come lead me to there. Talk about embarrassing…
It gets worse though. Sometimes I’m talking and completely forget what I was saying…in mid sentence. My family is getting used to it, but you can get some pretty strange looks when it happens with a stranger. My memory just seems o be shot And yes, this kind of thing happens with my mother as well. In fact, she was recently tested for Alzheimer’s because she couldn’t remember all the things she was filling out on a doctor’s questionnaire. (And how many people remember the name and phone number of their very first work place anyways?) I think I awaited the results just as anxiously as she did. Was she going to be a victim of this horrible disease? (And by blood and similar symptoms, me too?) Fortunately, she had no signs of Alzheimer’s, just a really bad memory and a whacked out system.
There are many delightful traits I got from my parents. I would greatly have preferred to have gotten my father’s sharp memory and keen sense of direction though. Too bad you can’t pick and choose….
And to my wicked child…be careful about laughing at your mother. You never know when it’s going to come back and bite you. Take it from one who knows…