A Memory of Mom

A memory assailed me today that left a huge smile on my face .It was a memory of a shopping trip with my Mom , whom by the way is a wonderful woman . My Mom is in her mid fifties and thin except for a little tummy that comes with middle age . I on the other hand have left the days of thinness far behind (although I have lost weight but that’s another story ). My Mom and I are thrift store junkies . There is in our genes some malformation of our DNA that prohibits us from passing up a thrift store . We have the grandest time digging up treasure in these islands of unwanted stuff . We get excited over such wonderful finds as old books , antiques and tattered old quilts (my fave) . Many a treasure has found its way into our car .It was one such shopping trip where I learned that my Mom is not only smart and beautiful with the singing voice of an angel but she is also very optimistic . She can take the worst of situations and this case compliments and see the good and funny side of them . We were having a wonderful time at a little out of the way thrift store one day . We had once again found some wonderful treasure . When we went to check out the cashier (actually a young lady) looks at my Mom and gushes out “Oh , when are you due ?” My Mom looks at me with raised eyebrows and I try so hard not to giggle (really , I tried !). She looks at the lady and says “ I’m not pregnant , just pudgy “ That poor girl's eyes bugged out of her head , she turned four shades of red and I was sure she was going to try to find a hole to crawl into . The lady beside her begins to choke and cough and this poor girl starts pouring forth with all kinds of apologies . My Mom’s favorite was when she said “ It’s just you have such a small perfectly round little belly , I was sure you must be pregnant “. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at this point because the poor girl was embarrassed beyond measure , so I went ahead and cried because I was laughing so hard . Of course through her chuckles my Mom tells the girl to stop apologizing that she didn’t feel insulted . She was actually pleased that she looked young enough to be having a baby . Well to make a long story short we all had a good laugh over it before we left and my Mom and I laughed all the way home . A lot of women would have been extremely angry if that had happened to them , some would even have been verbally abusive to that girl . Not my Mom . She found the humor and good in it and ran with it . I treasure that memory of that shopping trip . I try to treasure every moment we spend together . My Mom was diagnosed with MS last year and there are times she can’t walk at all now . Our trips together have dwindled some but if you do see us out in some thrift store someday , come on up and ask her when she is due . I’m sure she would smile and say thanks .