#365daysofmom

[mariesbookblog]

So I was driving to IKEA and drove past the new Dallas Cowboys training... thing, and do you guys remember the ‘bubble’ training place that collapsed a few years back?

Well, I do. My mom and I were watching the news and suddenly it was all over - the Bubble had collapsed. For the next few hours, it was nonstop. Slow motion. Repeat. Over and over and OVER again, we watched the Bubble fall.

Years later, she could still make me groan just by mentioning The Bubble.

[mariesbookblog]

A year ago yesterday, Mom told us that she had cancer. She texted my sister and me, and told us to come up to the hospital because what she had to tell us was something she had to do face to face. 

The mass on her back was cancerous, and it wasn’t benign, she said.

It had spread, she said.

Don’t cry, she said.

We’ll fight this, she said.

Less than two months later, she was gone.

Yesterday was World Cancer Day.

[mariesbookblog]

365 days of Memories of My mom

I should maybe consider changing this to '365 Memories of my mom' lol One time a? solicitor rang the doorbell and mon answered, he asked for the parent of the house and he kind of refused to believe that she wasn't my older sister. She was very flattered that day.

[mariesbookblog]

365 days of Memories of My mom

For some reason, the sound of a shower is very soothing to me. When I was younger, I would sit outside the bathroom door and listen while my mom (or dad) showered. It was calming. It's a long story but right now my sisters boyfriend is showering and the door is open and it's calming.

[mariesbookblog]

365 days of Memories of My mom My mom got up four days a week at 6 am to drive me to band camp, for two years. When I could drive, she still woke up to make sure I was awake. She never complained. She got up at four am wake up calls, drove hours in her own car to competitions, stayed out until past midnight on the same day as 5AM call times, and never said a word. She got up and made sure we were up for school, even when we could drive ourselves. Drove me to the airport every time I went to college, and picked me up every time.

[mariesbookblog]

365 Days of Memories of My Mom

I flopped down on my mom's bed while she was folding laundry. My stomach was in knots. It was two weeks after my first - and only - date with the girl I had a crush on. 

 "What would you do if I said I was gay?" I said, staring fixedly at the ceiling. It was hard to force the words out. 

 Mom paused for a second. She stopped folding laundry. I held my breath. It felt like my heart stopped beating. 

 I wanted to puke. 

 "I would say I knew that already."

[mariesbookblog]

365 Days of Memories of My Mom

I'm so bad at remembering to do this here's another buy one get one free day. One One time, my mom accidentally extreme couponed. A grocery store had a buy one get one free deal on bacon, the good kind, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM had a 'buy a regular bacon, get a free turkey bacon' sticker coupon on them. She bought 80 pounds of regular bacon and 40 pounds of turkey bacon. We had bacon for years. Two One time we went Black Friday shopping with a girl from Italy. We told her to wait a little ways away because this wasn't our first rodeo and we didn't want her to get hurt. At exactly 8PM (because this shit gets earlier every year) someone starts yelling 'it's 8PM' and people dive into the pallets of whatever it was that was on sale. The girl from Italy told my mom that this Black Friday thing was ridiculous - it was peaceful and quiet and suddenly, pandemonium. I told her the story about how the previous year, there had been actual bloodshed over bedsheets.

[mariesbookblog]

365 days of Memories of My mom

My mom drove from Irving to Dallas every week morning to get me to school, and then halfway back home to Grapevine to get to work, all during rush hour, then repeated the process in reverse, also during rush hour to get home after work, every week day. Overall, it took about two to three hours of driving every day, give or take. (I remember reading during most of it. Listening to Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. Calling in to the show once. Seeing a wreck every day. Driving and driving and driving.)