She truly loved to sit and watch these little bundles of energy coming to feed. This particular male was very territorial. He would often sit atop the birdfeeder near by and not let any other hummingbirds come to feed. Towards the end of the summer there was a number of them coming to store up on food. No doubt they were the offspring of the pair that continually came to the feeder.
My mother was born before the depression years in the '30s. She raised four children the best way she knew how with what she had amid a marriage of 39
years.
The relationship between us was certainly not unique for we had our share of arguments, and trying times. However something beautiful began to grow the day I told her some truths that I had been so afraid to tell her. When she wrote back and told me that she didn't think any differently of me and loved me the same as the rest of her children we spent the next 5 years of her life getting so much closer. It was truly a gift for both of us and an opportunity for which
I whole heartedly took. As it became more clear that she was nearing that day when she would make her transition every effort was made for my part to fly home and spend as much time with her as I could.
Through those visits, that were usually a month long, there were many memories created. Many times it was purely a matter of just keeping her company. She
would read, watch tv or do some crocheting. And if I wasn't watching tv I was
working on a cross stitch or inviting her to play a game of cards be it cribbage or something else, or yahtzee. All of which brings to mind the many moments of laughter she had at my expense. Gratitude is the only word that speaks to how
I feel being able to have given her the gift of laughter.
My mother truly was my guide, my teacher and my mentor. Bye the grace of the spiritual force beyond our capacaity to see, be it God, Great Spirit, Allah, or Budda, that same grace blessed me with the good fortune to have for my mother the remarkable woman that she was. She truly accepted people for who they were as individuals. She might not have agreed with things but she never spoke it aloud.
Some of the things I will miss about her of course will be the everyday phone calls that we shared, her physical presence, the home made bread she used to make so often! What will also be missed is her effort to share the news from back home. My mother taught me alot about unconditional love in life and in
death. Her light will always shine in me.
Little Wing Designs:
