Mom's message

Some days it surely  hits me that I am a "55-year old orphan" who hasn't quite finished growing up yet. 


My parents are both gone now....Daddy in 1982 and Mom just 4 years ago in 2007.  So many things have happened in the years that followed that I wish they could have been here to see.  Equally important, so many things I wish I could ask them about life.


They never got see both my sister Sherry and I retire from teaching the same year (2010) nor did they see both of us return right back to the classroom as teachers in the fall.  I can't imagine what they would have said about that.....probably something like, "Why did you retire in the first place girls?" 


 Neither of them saw the huge change for a healthier lifestyle that our little sister Cindy made. Because of her determination and hard work, they wouldn't recognize their daughter  today. 


They didn't see Ashley join the Air Force or the new babies born into my sister Kaye's family.  They never knew that  Christopher would go to work for the City of Haven and to know that Jessica parachuted out of an airplane once.  So much has changed! 


Even though my faith assures me that they are both doing fine now, happy and safely together in Heaven, I still miss them very much.  And the little "10-year old child" in me wants to pick up the phone and call to say, "Mom, Daddy....I NEED YOU!   I've got a question I don't know the answer for."


Do some of you guys have the same feelings as I do?

If you didn't know her, please meet my mom, Lois Scott.  This photo was taken about 3 years before she passed away.  She had "escaped" from the nursing home where she was living and had been enjoying her favorite meal, a McDonald's hamburger and a diet coke at my sister Cindy's house.  This is the parent that MADE 4 of her 7 children go to swimming lessons that summer.  LOL  :)
  
Well, today as I prepared myself to go to swimming lesson #2, I thought about my mom once more.  If she were still living today, I'd probably have called her up on the phone once, no twice, before leaving.  "Now,  you be careful in that water Peggy Ann!", she would have said.  "I will Mom, promise.", would have been my reply.  There are some things that time or distance apart will never change.  Her advice for her daughter would have always been the same, no matter if I was a 10-year old kid or the 55-year old woman that I am now.  


After my lesson was through and I headed back towards home, I thought about the fact that if my mom was still living I would have stopped by for a visit to tell her everything that had happened.  But if I could send her a message in Heaven today, this is what it would say...... 


Dear Mom,
I know that you would be happy to know that I FINALLY decided to learn to swim.  46 years is a lot of time to let "go by" without returning to the water.  But I guess "better late than never" will have to suffice and I promise that I'll stick with it this time.  AND I MEAN IT!!


 I did so much better today than last Friday, Mom.  My teacher said she's proud of me for being less afraid.  I actually did all of my lesson in the 4 foot area today which is a big change from the first one last week.  That first lesson I didn't want to get more than a step or two away from the 3 foot end.  


Laurie (my teacher) helped me learn to back float and face float today...and Mom, you won't believe this...but I actually put my face, willingly, into the water as I was floating.  Can you imagine me doing that?  That might be a certifiable miracle or something!  


Mom,  you did the right thing back when we were kids by enrolling us in the those lessons.  You only wanted for us to be safe in the water.  I'm sorry that I didn't see it that way at the time but I was just a kid and had a lot of growing up left to do.  You'll be happy to know that I did finally grow up, but not so much that I don't miss having a mom around to ask questions and advice of. Chances are that I will never outgrow that.   


Until I see you and Daddy in Heaven--


Love, Peggy