Gifts from my Mother.
I am forever in debt to my mother for my joi de vie and miscellaneous other odd bits that make life worth living. Mom, you are a Jewell.
#1. My given name pretty much ensures that I will never become a terrorist, mad bomber or assassin. News reports of such people always use your full three given names. Lee Harvey Oswald. John Wilkes Boothe. Somehow Kristopher Robin Ludwig doesn't strike fear into the hearts of men. I am always delighted that Mom was such a fan of A.A. Milne that she would name her last born after such a gentle character. Thank God she did not name me Pooh.
Mom let me read anything. When I was a teen my brother had a copy of Jerry Rubin's "Do It" which was a bit of a manifesto on turning on and dropping out maaaannn. In retrospect it was a bit of self indulgent hogwash from an asshole but still at the time my Mom said "sure go ahead and read it". In an age where Huckleberry Finn is being banned I am forever in debt to my Mom for allowing me the freedom to sort through the horseshit and the truth on my own. Really the only way to find the truth. Let your children dig for themselves because it makes them stronger and if truth cannot stand on its own then maybe questions need to be asked.
This was a brave stance to take coming from a depression era housewife. Revolutionary if I may say so myself.
Mom taught me to believe in ghosts and the gentle guidance of spirits. This came in handy when I indulged in mushrooms and therefore was not surprised to find a coursing river of reality that surges around us as we float on only the surface of a miraculous universe. How does a simple girl from Chillicothe Mo. know such things?
She gave me the gifts of a proper tea and champagne, Pogo and Ingmar Bergman.
An appreciation Classical music and N.P.R. I owe to Mom.
My sense of freedom and all the peril and joy that comes with it I owe to Mom.
Her advice to me once was "whatever you do, don't be boring. Life is much too short for boredom".
Amen! Love while we can and embrace the bits that make us think. There is so much going on and it's a shame to miss any of it.
