The Quiet Times

Gaye asked me recently, 

"do you take pictures of everything?"

I'm happy to say, yes, pretty much.

Gaye and I took turns (mostly Gaye) 

spending the night at moms, 

much to mom's chagrin.

She did not like to feel she needed "taking care of".

But those morning were some of our best times together.

Most mornings I would run through Dunkin Donuts

and grab donuts and tea for Gaye and coffee for me.

Then Gaye and I would sit on the balcony and and sip and talk 

until mom would wander out to join us.

She could get FOMO just like the rest of us.

Gaye's husband, Dave, has commented 

that when the two of us get together

there is a whole lot of laughing involved.

Mom didn't want to miss out on a good time.

Some mornings we would wander back into

her apartment and randomly pick a drawer

full of treasures that we all knew Gaye and I would have

to sort through at some point.

We also all figured out it was way more fun to sift through 

all those memories with mom.

  This picture is from one of those mornings. 

Looks like we stumbled across a stash of pins.

Can you make out all the bags?

We had a system, 

there would be a 

Goodwill bag,

a recycle bag,

a garbage bag,

and a , Lord help you if your name was on the bag bag.

There were other mornings, later, when we wouldn't

bother with the balcony.

Gaye and I would sit at moms bedside

and know she could feel the warmth 

of the hugs that took the form of 

Gaye and me chatting and laughing.

Mom didn't like to be a bother.

She told me shortly after Big died that 

she would like to die by herself, no one

having to make a fuss.

I'm so glad she didn't get her way.

What a gift to Gaye and me and honestly, 

I think she was happy with it in the end too.