Today is the 3rd of March. I am now down to seventeen days on my count down to Spring. I am painting a picture in my mind of my trees in full bloom. I need a Spring picture for my Blog. One of tree's or birds. Have you one I can borrow? Just thought I would ask.
My Mom use to have a saying for everything. Little bits of words that always held a different meaning than what they were saying. Understand what I mean? The first one I remember was, "If you don't quit crying I will give you something to cry about." I would cry and wait, and wait and cry. Never anything because my Mom never spanked. So believe me I had no idea what it was I was waiting on. Years later when I finally understood the shaky ground I had been standing on. I was very glad my Mom had been non-violent. She only threatened.
When I was about eight I brought a little girl home from school to play. She lived farther down ninth street. Now believe me when I say my Mother was a wonderful Christan woman. But although we were poor and lived in a unpainted house, dark with age. My Mom had class and wanted to be careful who we were around. She hob knobbed with the teachers at our school. Going over for tea with them. She was president of the PTA almost every year. She never cussed, drank or smoked. She wore dresses and high heels. Oh also quite often a hat. Anyway after the girl left Mom sat down on the steps beside me. "It would be better," she said , "If you don't play with her much and do not ask to go to her house. Her family are very rough talking and you know, "Birds of a feather flock together." Say what. Where in the heck did the birds come into play. I could not ever go to this girls house and now I learn there is something going on with Birds. I tried to get to the bottom of it. "Why can't I go to her house? Does she have birds?" Mother shook her head. I always was the problem child. Exit Carolyn from my life.
Another favorite of hers. "Pretty is as pretty does," she would say when I acted up. Now that one I knew was not right. I knew some kids that were very pretty and they acted up all the time. And they still looked pretty to me. So that one I didn't pay that much attention too.
"Act in haste," she would warn and"Repent in leisure.' That one Mom you had right, because I have made some pretty quick decisions that didn't turn out too good and I paid for them a long, long time.
One my sister and I talk about still. "The highway to Hell is paved with good intentions." We will talk about all the things we need to get done and never get to them. "I have good intentions," she says. "So do I," I say. "But you know the highway to Hell is paved with good intentions." We both agree we have a super freeway going on.
Another one, "A stitche in time saves nine." Saves what I wonder, mine more stitches. Nine minutes?" I never did ask the meaning of those words. One you've probably all heard, "Nobody likes a poor loser," she would say when I pouted over not winning. "Sing at the dinner table and cry before morning." I always wanted someone to sing at supper, just so I could see if they cried before morning. I was afraid to try it myself. "A rolling stone carries no moss," she would tell me when I always wanted to move around. Of course I never explained to her I really did not want moss growing on me anyway. But I doubt if she would have thought I was funny.
She had always had a saying, some little line. I spent my younger years just trying to figure out what the heck she was saying to me. But one she said over the years, I always understood. "You can fool some of the people, some of the time. Part of the people part of the time. But not all of the people all of the time." Right on Mom.
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