She gets out of the car and comments on how dirty it is. It's hard having a clean car in Calgary with all the sand and salt sitting on top of all that melting snow but she isn't accepting any of these excuses as she reminds me that my Uncle
always has a clean car. She wonders why I haven't cleaned it yet. She takes her hanky out of her pocket and wipes her dusty hands. And then mid-sentence, she stoops down and puts her hand into the dirtiest puddle you have ever seen. She retrieves a penny and then another and another. She passes them to me as if they are nuggets of gold. "Now you just need to find 97 more!" she says proudly as she wonders outloud why people would be throwing money around.
Over the years as I have walked with my mother, she has consistently picked up money her eagle eyes spot. She happily says a little tune about finding a penny and then giving it away so she can have good luck. She picks up other things too. Broken glass and wrappers. By the time our walk is over, she has all kinds of little treasures for the garbage or tickling coins in my pocket.
Though dementia is ravaging Used to Be Mother's mind and taking her away in little chunks so that I hardly recognise her anymore, my mother - the one who loved me and had meaningful conversations and shovelled wheat and clerked for years to keep us clothed reveal's at that moment with her dirty hands dripping with puddle water that her core values remain intact. Cleanliness is Next to Godliness. A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned. Bloom Where You Are Potted. And then she hurries into the store to buy a $300 pair of walking shoes. It's spring and she wants to walk more and besides, we have another 97 cents to find.
6 comments:
Your mom sounds like a woman whose cup is half full - - -not half empty. There's alot to be said about that.
this really reflects the generational gap. kids my age won't pick up a coin smaller than a dime.
Gotta love our moms! We are never too old to need them :)
In her dementia, my mother never stopped vacuuming. Brava for your mother and the $300 shoes.
I can totally relate to this. Patience, patience, patience! ~CH
love the kindness you use when you write of your sweet mother. You are a sweet and kind daughter Bonnie and you have had lots of things on your plate the last year, haven't you? Well, know that along with your 3 pennies there have been prayers coming your way or in your path or however the best way to tell you that we McK's are praying for the W's. I hope you and your mom get LOTS of opportunities to find the other 97 cents. I'll think of you and her, when I next find a 'lucky' penny! xo my friend - KM
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