Our days

My Mom's motto

My Mom’s motto

A few weeks ago, my husband and I travelled back to Wisconsin to help my Mom move from the nursing home where she had been for the previous ten months, into an assisted living room. Throughout the whole process, she never ceased to teach me invaluable lessons of grace, acceptance and appreciation.

She had gone to the gift shop in her senior community and purchased the sign you see in the photo above as a treat for herself. She talks about the sign frequently, saying how much she really believes that each day is truly a gift. An easy thing to say, but she lives it. She finds beauty in the smallest moments. She has lost so much in the past year and a half – her ability to walk, her home, her independence, her long-term and former live-in boyfriend is slipping away to advanced dementia, her ability to drive and to travel, her ability to write, or use her computer. But all she talks about is how much she adores her 14 x 15 foot room, how lucky she is compared to others in her exercise class because she can lift her arms (she doesn’t mention that she’s in a wheelchair), how happy she is hearing my voice, how beautiful the trees are outside her window, and a million other little moments.

Do you have people in your life you admire? Tell me their stories.

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.” ― Mary Jean Irion

 

2 Comments

2 responses to “Our days”

  1. avatar Dick & Sharon says:

    Dear Legeia,

    This touched our hearts, how beautifully you have described your Mom.

    She is an amazing lady and she has one of the Best daughters in the world.

    Love

  2. […] on this topic in the past, about Heroic Aging, a piece on My Grandmother  and a brief post about my Mom. As time passes, I find myself more drawn to this topic and am eager to begin exploring it in […]