Throwback Thursday: Mom and Me
friends and family
Ain’t No Son Shine When He’s Gone
Chef Boy ‘R Mine was here for a week and just left Monday morning. I am all verklempt and singing “Ain’t no son-shine when he’s gone.” (H/T to Mona and Dena.)
My son lives in Atlanta and, as a chef, works crazy hours including weekends and holidays. I don’t get to see him often and, when I do, it’s usually just a brief visit. A whole week was a gift.
I’m fond of saying to expectant parents that no one ever tells you how much fun kids are. And, hoo boy, young souls make my soul sing. But I’m learning that there’s a lot of fun and satisfaction in older children. My son is very much an adult and living a self-actualized life. He’s intelligent, articulate and has a wicked good sense of humor. I enjoy talking to him. I enjoy sitting in companionable silence with him. I enjoy watching him play with his dogs.
He cooks for me, sometimes, when he comes home. This time I bought a filled-to-the-brim grocery cart of quick and easy stuff so he wouldn’t have to cook, but he chose to anyway. We had a quite marvelous Ricotta Gnocchi Bolognese that was so good we ate it for 3 days without tiring of it. I said, as I often say when Chef Boy ‘R Mine cooks, that it was the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. And it was.
After the first round of Gnocchi Bolognese when I was still high on the endorphins of good food, I had no sooner settled into a glass of after-dinner wine when he announced he was going to go wax my car. I wondered aloud if I was dying and no one had told me. He had cooked and done most of the cleaning up and was still willing to spend 4 ½ hours waxing my car.
At night, by lamplight, he waxed my car. Not just waxed it, but washed it, clayed it, compounded it, did this and did that and then something else. This was not just a wax job, but the kind of attention a car gets with a $400 detailing job.
When I walk to my car, I see a sparkle and shine that reminds me that I have a son who loves me and is willing to spend his vacation days with me. Adult children, I’m finding, are a great joy. Life is good.
Throwback Thursday: Remember Glamour Shots?
Remember Glamour Shots? Yes, I succumbed to the nonsense. On a blistering hot summer day, my mother and I went to the JC Penney’s and got all gussied up. There was a ton of makeup involved not to mention the wardrobe of bustiers and boas. It really was a lot of fun.
I decided early on that this was going to be my obituary picture. I think it suits me. I’m not in any hurry to die, but it’s good to have plans!
So, this is my Throwback Thursday offering. I hope y’all enjoy it as much as I did the outing with my mother.
Carruthers
Photo by Roy Welburn
I’m snuggled on the couch with the puppy drinking coffee. After complaining about the heat for days, I’m enjoying the storm waging outside The Barn.
I promised myself I would not complain about this summer’s heat after last winter’s cold. I meant well.
But there’s nothing like feeling safe inside while the rain rages outside. I feel snug and loved as the puppy is using this opportunity to cover me with sweet puppy kisses.
I joke that Carruthers should be here. Whenever she visits, West Virginia is dowsed in torrents of rain – tropical monsoons the likes of which we all marvel at. But Carruthers is turning 25 while doing fieldwork in Indonesia. I bet it’s more tropical here today.
Her birthday isn’t technically until tomorrow, but it’s tomorrow today where she is, so I wished her Happy Birthday as she ate Mexican food and listened to salsa music in an Indonesian restaurant. Isn’t it a wonderful world!
One of the greatest blessings I received from Doug is his daughter, Carruthers. I would never have gotten through this past year without her. I hope she knows how much I love her.
W. Va. Fur and Root 