Happy Birthday, Minkey! September 30, 2014
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Humor, People.comments closed
Mom turns 85 today!
Let’s do the math:
85 years x 365 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes = 44,467,600 minutes (give or take thirty thousand minutes to account for Leap Years).
Of those 44 million minutes, mom remembers, oh, let’s say, the last 10 or 20 clearly. The farther back she goes, the fuzzier it gets.
If I showed her this photo (taken 20 or so years ago), she’d recognize the out-of-focus faces but it wouldn’t help her to recall anything about the day.
Her faded long-term memory makes for some interesting conversations. She remembers she has four kids, but the nomenclature is off at times.
* One day, she wanted to talk to my brother’s wife about something. Instead of asking for Joan by name, she asked my brother, “Do you know where your mother is?”
Doug kept a straight face and said, “Yeah. I’m looking right at her.” (I give him kudos for resisting the urge to reply, “Oh, mom? She’s lost in space.”)
* Another time, my sister and her family flew from FL to CO for a visit. Mom recognized my sister, but not my sister’s husband, Mike (who’s been in the family for 25+ years).
At one point during the visit, mom asked Mike, “Where do you live?”
Mike replied, “In Orlando.”
Mom perked up, “My daughter lives in Orlando . . . do you know her?”
Mike nodded, “Yeah, I married her.”
Surprised, mom asked, “When?”
* Several times, mom has asked me what happened to dad. After I fill her in on his final illness and death, she nods, “So that’s it . . . he’s dead?”
Yup. That’s it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINKEY!
On the plus side, since she is seldom pulled into memories of what once was, she finds it easy to stay situated in the Present Moment.
The Eternal NOW. The only place happiness resides.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Spirit Lights The Way 