I understand why people say, “Paybacks are a bitch!” It’s tough work to pay back someone in your life who has been giving to you since you were born. You see, when I came into this world, I came in having two mothers. And it seems like these two old ladies sure know the ropes because they got me hopping around like a chicken with her head cut off paying them back big time.
By the time I clean up the kitchen from breakfast dishes, and whatnot, I’m setting the table back up because these two old gals are sitting at the table again waiting for their lunch to be served. I guess it goes that way with older folks; their stomachs seem to empty out faster.
You’ve probably guessed by now these are the two mothers who took care of me when I was a little girl, and now it’s my time to take care of them. And oh, by the way, if you’re thinking you might stop by for dinner some evening, come early. They want dinner served up and on the table by four PM these days. That’s if I can hold them off that long.
There are some mornings when I’m so exhausted and think did I sleep? Because it feels like I’ve just kissed them on the cheek and tucked them into their beds. It seems like minutes before long that I’d hear them hollering from their rooms of my pretty Victorian house on the beach in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, for their morning cup of coffee. That’s also the time when I get the delicate responsibility to sort out which falsies is which soaking on top of the guest bathroom sink.
What can I do? They’re my mothers. I love every inch of them, every cell of their wrinkled bodies. They’re the ladies who grew me up to be the woman I am today. And by all standards of how I’ve lived my life up until now, I’d say they did a pretty good job.
They’re out there now sitting on my front porch rocking in those old wooden rockers, kind of like a duet, just rocking and breathing in the fresh salted air. The one in the left rocker with the puffy silver coif, that’s my Mama Millie and the other one with the pixie white haircut rocking herself silly, not hearing a thing Millie is saying to her, that’s my Nanny, Mama’s oldest sister.
