This morning, we arrived around 7 am in Pasadena. We took a cab from the bus terminal. My parents must have heard the commotion I was making as I struggled to get my backpack and stuff out of the trunk. When my mom opened the door and saw me, she shrieked and rushed out to give me a hug. Mom was really glad and in tears when she saw me first thing in the morning. It was a big surprise for her. Megan took her stuff and walked across the street to her folks’ place. I’m sure they were glad to see her, too.
I told my mom, “Happy Mother’s Day”. Then I had to tell her the whole story about our trip, the big surprise we had planned, and about this blog. I gave her the necklace. She loved it… she said, “Just you showing up was the perfect Mother’s Day gift for me.” She gave me a journal that she had written when I was born. It was sort of a long letter to me, chronicling her thoughts during the first month or so after I was born. She had always intended to give it to me later, perhaps when she thought I was “a man” or when I had my first born or something, but she thought it was time. I’ve been reading it in bits and pieces because I wanted to spend as much time as I can with my folks. And you know what I just read? I read that she had wanted to be a writer too. I spoke to her about it and this is what mom had to say, “Ya know Bob, I’m glad you became a writer. In a sense, you’re living my dream and I’m very proud of that fact.” My mom is totally awesome. She’s read all my new blog posts too and she loves them… It gives you a warm feeling all over, knowing someone’s always got your back like that.
Oh I almost forgot, Rick and Kaitlin finally made it to my folks’ place. They haven’t killed each other yet! So far they’ve been behaving like adults and dealing with the situation. I’ll have to coax Rick into making him talk about what happened… Well stay tuned, it’s going to be like “Mission Impossible” for me to get him to talk to me about it–no, not his relationship with Kaitlin, but the death of his car. I think he’s in mourning.
And for all the moms out there, may you have a great Mother’s Day. And for the kids who are reading this, spend some time with your mom, tell her how much you love her and how much they mean to you. In the end, that’s the best Mother’s Day gift there is.
I’ll leave you with this Zen quote for the day, something my mom suggested to me. It comes from Hodding Carter, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, “There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots. The other is wings.” I think Dad was more responsible for roots, but Mom definitely helped with the wings… or was it just the Red Bull? Just kidding, ma. 🙂
Happy Mother’s Day. Now I have to go spend some quality time with my mom!
Ciao!
Bob
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P.S. Thank you all for following our trip. See you back soon in New York City!