Thanks, Mama

Yesterday, whilst slogging along behind Comet at a benefit for the local Food Bank that boasted of many bouncy houses and two giant slides, I had occasion to feel grateful to my mother. I point this out because this is not the usual feeling I have about the dear old DP (deceased parent). Things were often grim. But yesterday, as I was carrying all of Comet's stuff and my stuff and two drinks and a basket of plastic vegetables that Comet won at a previous event, doing something that was not particularly fun for me so that Comet could do something that was spectacularly fun for him, shivering in the wet chilliness, I thought of my own mother and trips we to to Rockaway playland and other amusement parks when I was a kid.

We went to in the summer to "ride the rides." By which I mean, I rode the rides and my mother watched. In polyester and uncomfortable shoes, spending more than she should have, my mother sweated and was probably bored and tired while I had the time of my life. Sometimes, she even brought my cousins or friends along with us: One Woman, Four Kids, No Escape! And this was in the day when there wasn't so much geared toward children and most of the kids I knew didn't have parents who would take them special places just for the fun of it.

What I'm getting at is that, thirty-odd years later, I am finally grateful. It's not so much fun to be the pack animal at the fair, to "suffer" physical discomfort, to go to places you would probably avoid as a childless person, and to keep smiling (or at least keep from yelling), so that a little person can have the time of his life. Not to mention having to cajole said young person into leaving so that his pack-Mom can put down some of her burden and regain the feeling in her arms.

Comet is coming in on five, and already he has done more fun, kid things than I did in my whole childhood. Times are different, there is so much more to do and, what's more I have the means and the support of a fantastic partner, two things my mother never had. So, I'm grateful for the fun times she provided and put up with. It helps me do the same for Comet and his friends. Thanks, Mama.