Yes, I know~ I've shown a decided lack of blog content recently. I blame it on a combination of the dregs from the 'flu (& accompanying opportunistic maladies like a UTI & the return of the underarm yeastie beast) & the siren call of spring-like weather. Sunday, I actually did not turn on my computer at all (an almost unheard of event in our household, particularly since I started blogging).
Mother did make out here on Wednesday for lunch & arrived only 15 minutes late :-) She is in one of her transitional periods (you might remember that she is bi-polar), & despite the stress of another remodel going on at their house, she was focused & stayed on topic (mostly). We had a pleasant lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant, catching up on family news, & she only landed two surprises. You see, she tends to forget to tell me things- not intentionally of course- she just thinks she must have already told me about “X”, since I’m the oldest (even though I’m the second oldest- whatever- you get use to it)
Anyway, we were talking about recent birthdays (there are 14 family b-days in February), forwarded emails & who got what recent pictures, when she mentioned in passing that they had “finally received Rose’s ashes, but too late to include with the others, but that’s alright, I have something else in mind for her design...” Thinking that I had possibly tuned out at a crucial juncture in the flow of word (not unheard of), I interrupted Mother;
“Uh, Rose’s ashes?”
Rose is my stepfather’s mother, & last I had heard, she was living in a Russian/Jewish nursing home in Southern California, driving everyone bonkers.
“Yes, Rose- now, I know I told you!”
“No, Mom, you didn’t- I think I would remember being told my last grandparent died.”
“Well, I’m certain I did- you probably just forgot during all the excitement around the wedding.” (my brother’s wedding 7 months ago)
“When did she die?”
“Oh, about 18 months ago, I think- maybe 2 years.”
*Sigh* So much for lucid.
So, the conversational freight train barreled on, as I digested this bit of news, when another ball comes flying in from left field;
“Sam didn’t mention it in his email- did he get his container of ashes?”
“Um, noooo- I don’t remember anything like that in the envelope.”
“It’s in a glass cylinder, hung on a cord...”
“OMG~ is that what it was?!”
“Didn’t I include the pictures of your grandparents?”
“Yes, you did; but how was I supposed to make that connection?”
You see, in the envelope, there was a glass ball, about the size of a shooter marble, with swirls of silver & bronze inside, flecked with white. It’s hung on two strands of silken cording & Sam has been walking around with it on his key ring. Everyone has spent the past month looking at it, trying to figure out the design & purpose. Turns out, it is a piece of art glass made by friends of my sister, & contains the ashes of my Mother’s parents, Moss & Doss, who died in 1988 & 2004, respectively.
When I told Sam that he’s been walking around with his great-grandparents ashes on his key chain, he looked at me like my trolley had just jumped the track, shook his head, & said,
“I should have known it was something creepy like that- your Mom is whacked.”
Yes, Son, I know.
2 comments:
Uh, yeah... whacked I'd say! But, I can relate! We have some of *those people* in our family too.
My mother-in-law's family neglected to tell her that her own dad had died until a couple of months after the fact. Now I've gotta go check that necklace they gave my little Moira for Christmas! LOL
What handsome men you have pictured on your blog... gonna have to force, ahem... I mean, get my Sam to stand still for a good one! The girls are always set for a picture!
Happy weekend!
Tammy :):):)
I learned that my stepfather died when Mitch was doing genealogy research on the net. Nice of my mother to have said anything. I bet she thinks I don't know. Selfish woman. C'est la vie.
Huggles!
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