Weekly Roundup is an update on what’s going on in my world. Welcome!
My mom passed away in 2000, so Mother’s Day is always bittersweet. The best gift she gave me was sense of humor and I miss her knee-slapping, foot stomping laughter more than anything else. A few years after her death, my siblings and I exchanged a series of emails with memories of our mother. Eventually, I collected them all and they became The Mom Stories. The incident below is one of them and happened when I was 15.
AVIANCE AND A BRICK
I was in the laundry room filling the washing machine, and Mom was in the kitchen or family room. The TV was on, and I could hear the commercial for Aviance perfume in the background. If you don’t remember that one, it went like this:
“I’ve been sweet and I’ve been good, I’ve had a whole full day of motherhood, but I’m gonna have an Aviance night.”
Evidently, Mom was in one of her playful moods, because all of a sudden she opened the laundry room door singing “I’m gonna have an Aviance night!”, and then tried to snap me with a rolled up towel. The first couple of tries missed, and she was giggling like a little girl while I tried to jump out of the way. Finally, she landed a vicious snap on my rear end. I hollered, and at first she got a shocked look on her face, covering her mouth with her hand (still smiling of course). I think it surprised her that she actually nailed me, along with some concern that I might be hurt.
Thinking fast, I grabbed a towel from the floor and snapped it in her direction. She took off toward the family room squealing and shouting my name and laughing to beat the band. I was right on her heels snapping away – around the corner, past the little bathroom and down the long hall toward the front door; the same door that was being held open by a needlepoint-covered brick.
Unfortunately for Mom, she either wasn’t watching or simply got too close and rammed her foot, full tilt, into that stupid brick. She yelped in pain and started crying, hobbling far enough to sit down on the bottom step near the door. Well of course I thought she was just messing around, trying to keep me from exacting my revenge. I was laughing at her, and she was yelling at me that it wasn’t funny…until I finally figured out she wasn’t kidding and really did hurt herself. It wasn’t until later on we discovered she had broken her big toe. I think it’s safe to say that when Dad got home, they were not going to have an Aviance night!
Postscript – The offending brick now resides by my front door.
###########
Current project – I am just about finished with the sequel to Dragon Child, entitled Dragon Valley. After a beta reading and final edit, it may appear on my website. I’m still having fun with it, so plan to continue the series for now. I received some great feedback from one of my beta readers who read Dragon Child to her grandkids – they loved it and wanted more!
What about my Gladstone Shifters series? I haven’t forgotten about Forbidden Moon, but it’s on the back burner. Still hoping to get started on it this fall.
Publishing? Well, I need money for that and don’t have it, so I have to focus on writing only instead. Maybe next year’s tax refund will enable me to publish the Dragon stories in one volume. Of course, it’s always possible I will win the lottery or marry a millionaire, so you could see something much sooner!
I can see why that’s a cherished family memory! Some times mom’s get a bad rap for being too serious, so it’s nice to hear a story about a fun mom moment! My mother is gone, also & it’s much better to remember the fun times rather than the crabby times! I just hope my kids remember me with laughter, too!
I agree. There is no replacement for your mom and I will always miss her. It’s sometimes harder to forget the negative stuff and keep the fun memories, but well worth it!
Great story! Your mom sounds like she had a fun spirit, and I’m sure you miss her this time of year in particular. Remember the good times of those you loved!
Thanks! She was something else all right. I wish I could bring her back so we could laugh together one more time.
Is that brick in a koozy!? BECAUSE THAT’S AWESOME.
Well, sort of! She loved to needlepoint and made the brick cover so it wouldn’t scratch the floor. Without it, she may have broken more than one toe! She would probably have broken one of mine for sharing this story!
Haha! That is fantastic. This was a good little ditty.
Cool! Even now, she’s making people laugh!