I moved away shortly after I married, much too young by the way. I still kept in touch with my mother and after the kids were older I was finally able to go home for a week each year over Mother’s Day to see mom. While mom and I were always more friends than mother and daughter, our friendship became much stronger. I was an adult and could do the adult things with my mother. (Did I tell you that my mother was a good old German beer drinker and knew all the watering holes in town?)
In 1997 I divorced and moved back home to take care of mom who was now in her 70s, still very active but needing some supervision. (Yes, they do go into a second childhood and mom was stuck in the terrible twos.) Even though her ideas on what should or shouldn’t be done were a little dubious, she was still active and always hitting the roads in her pickup. I would work during the week and on weekends mom and I would shop, go out to eat and hit her favorite watering holes.
Please understand that I had already gone through the period of trying to get mom to slow down on the drinking and smoking and to eat a few vegetables once in a while. I don’t know why I tried. She always did exactly what she wanted to do and both of my brothers had tried to no avail. Her doctor just laughed and said as long as she had me to watch over her, at her age she should be able to do what she wanted. Thanks, Doc!!!
In 2002 mom had several serious bouts with lung infections. I had been trying to get her to move out of the city for awhile, but her only remaining long time friend still lived close to us and mom would not hear of moving. When her friend passed away, mom finally agreed to move. By now the old neighborhood was getting pretty rough and I bought a place in the country.
