"He handed the phone over to your mom. We said 'hello' and we both just talked about how much we love each other and how wonderful we are (every time I say something loving to her she claims it's ME who is that way!). Then she said something that changed the conversation: 'Oh I can't tell who I am and who you are.' And you know Rhonda, at that moment I couldn't tell either. I have had the flu all week or I would have jumped in the car and driven over to hold her. Of course she was weeping. And I began to weep also. It was a deeply moving moment where reality shifted for me and our one-ness was the reality. The feeling has stayed with me." ~a beautiful (gift) email from my mom's co-worker and friend, Lori (and it says in one paragraph all that needs said, but of course I can't stop here!!!)
Mom has always had a way of making you re-connect with the concept that we are all connected... and not just tied together because of being human, but a real part of each other. And in her current state without all the walls we build while traveling through life, she recognizes we are so much more. You are me and I am you. What I do to you, I do to me. How I feel about you is how I feel about me. Wouldn't the world change drastically if we all had that understanding?
I was reminded the other evening of how powerful my mom was during a time in my life when abuse that trickles down from a parent with alcoholism is a constant factor. Her songs she sang taught me that there is a beauty in everything, especially in love, that rises above anything else and holds us together when it feels like we're falling apart. The memory flood gates have opened this week as I remember songs, one by one, silly little nonsense songs, goofy songs that she HAD to have changed the words of, songs of inspiration, songs about rising above pain, songs that remind you to not take anything for granted. The list keeps going on and on. And over the years, those songs somehow reach out and find me again, this time with adult ears and a heart that has been knocked around a bit, but grows stronger and wiser with age.
Value the gift of TODAY.
Value our connection to ourselves, to each other and to this planet.
Value the sound tracks of your own life.
And value the memories that consciously or unconsciously motivate and captivate and propel us forward.
Make more memories that matter.
I just saw the newest version of Cinderella with my granddaughter last night who visited with me throughout the movie, asking questions about the plot, then connecting them with life in general. The movie was great... but the memory made is so much greater. In the words of the main characters:
"Have courage and be kind."
I can still hear mom singing this one, in fact, I woke up today with it spinning in my brain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra-VH1FAPZY
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