Baby Steps

This is a beautiful photo of Mom supporting me as I walk. I think of many blogs that I could write when I look at this photo, but I will write what my thoughts are about lately. This is how blogs usually come about: I have a little seed of a thought, and/or I think of the name of a blog that I want to write.

"Anyhoo", as Mom would say: My Mother has taught me things all of my life and the amazing thing, since she is 89 and I am 64, is that I'm still learning from her. I know it isn't her formally teaching, it is just what I'm learning in this process.

I am talking about patience, tolerance, what is important,not forgetting to take care of self to be better able to help others, don't plan too far ahead, being flexible and so on.

On a day to day basis, I try to stay loose, not to make unbreakable plans and not to get too caught in having my own way. At this point in my life, it is not about me. However, I certainly don't do this perfectly!

What Mom has taught me, is that most of the stuff is "little" not hugely important and almost anything can be changed or left out. A meal happens when it does and it isn't always the food I had planned on. My time to"do" something or go somewhere, isn't always when or how I want to.

The people who are in and out on a regular basis almost everyday don't always put things were I want them or do the things I think I would like them to, but they afford me time to be by myself, to meet with my friends,or to do errands.

I am far more capable than I ever thought I was or could be. I am doing things I had never planned on doing. Being mad and impatient doesn't help much...it wastes a lot of my energy. It is far more productive to say "hmmm" and move on to the next thing. People are people and they pretty much stay who they are and if I want to see them I need to accept them as they are, not who or how I would like them to be. There are few things that I MUST do; I know this because when I can't,the world keeps on turning.


I have learned that what is in important in a spouse is not that he bring flowers daily but that he never goes to bed without making coffee so that it brews before I get up. When I am so tired I have to fall into bed with the promise of cleaning up in the morning, that I wake up to a clean kitchen. That kindness is making sure my Mom gets a kiss from him every night. Love changes,grows,takes different shapes and still can last if we let it make its changes.

I know that when Mom taught me to walk, she probably never realized that she would still be teaching me to "walk" even at this late time in our lives.

More to follow provoked by this wonderful photo. By the way, I was about one year old in that photo!