Re: Mother’s Day

[Flora <http://www..family/~flora>]

Truly lovely!

On Wed, May 13, 2020, 2:23 PM Bhavani <http://www.gmail.com/~bhavaniowl> wrote:
> Jim Walsh from Facebook:
> I’d like to share two short stories about Flora Kerwin
> Walsh, my mother.  She was the oldest of thirteen children, eight of
> whom survived to adulthood. She knew what
> “responsibility” was all about. As a teenager
> she promised her mother that she would help support the family until
> her youngest sibling graduated from high school. And she did. Mom
> never graduated from high school herself but she made sure that all
> her brothers and sisters did.
> 
> In her 90th year she became a resident of the Jesmond Nursing Home.
> Dementia was creeping in and she needed the extra care available
> there.  Just before Christmas that year the Nahant
> Woman’s Club threw a party residents across the street at
> the Nahant Country Club for the Jesmond’s ambulatory
> residents. Mom never lost her social graces and she enjoyed the
> company of others.  Chatting amiably with those sitting at her
> table, a friend of mine recognized her and came over to greet her.
> 
> “Hello, Mrs. Walsh,” Mary Jo said,
> “How are you?”
>
> “I’m well, dear, thank you,” Mom replied. But MJ knew there was no
> recognition in my mother’s gaze.
> 
> “It’s me, Mary Jo,” she said with
> all the warmth that is naturally hers.  “You remember me,
> don’t you?”
> 
> Returning warmth with warmth, mom sweetly replied, “Well,
> you know, dear, I don’t …but I’m
> sure I liked you.”
> 
> In her late 80s I took her to her to the doctor’s office
> for a general checkup. After the physical exam was completed he
> moved on to the usual (subtle) inquiry regarding her mental
> capacity. We all know how this is done. It usually starts with an
> offhanded inquiry, “Tell me Mrs. Walsh,” the
> doctor said “who is the President of the United
> States?”
> 
> Flora thought for a moment and then patiently explained to the
> doctor, “Well, I’m almost 90 years old and I
> don’t follow politics the way I used to. So I really
> don’t know the answer to your question…but I
> hope he’s a Democrat.”
> 
> Life…one might say that you are who you are because
> you’ve been who you’ve been. Her apple fell
> not far from her father’s tree and my apple not far from
> hers.