Dear Old Mom

I spent an entry on Walt's mother, now it's time to introduce my own mother. She celebrated her 86th birthday yesterday and today I'm taking her out to dinner to celebrate (I was going to take her out yesterday, but she got confused and thought we were going to lunch, so made plans with some friends to go out to dinner).

My mother is a pretty amazing woman. She has outlived all but one of her 9 siblings (all of whom died of lung-related illnesses). Her younger sister still lives, but is in an Alzheimer's facility. My mother, though now showing more memory lapses (like forgetting our discussion about what time we were going to dinner yesterday), is still often more bright and alert than I am.

She belongs to several groups, and volunteers at the Hospice of Marin thrift shop twice a week. Her social calendar has no blank days in it. You can hardly add a new activity because it's so full of lunches and dinners and fund-raising events, and mah-jong games and theatre shows to attend. It makes me tired just reading it.

My mother, no matter how old she gets, chronologically will never be "old." She keeps her mind active by constantly working jigsaw puzzles. She reads every newspaper from front to back.

She's a fantastic grandmother with a wonderful relationship with her grandchildren.

I am so very lucky to have her in my life, and so fortunate to be able to say that in addition to being my mother, she is also my best friend.