The Last Mom
Quick trip to the old neighborhood today, and I visited with the last mom living on our cul-de-sac. Everyone else is gone, literally or figuratively. While I’m very lucky that I still have both of my parents, they moved away long ago, and she’s now the only friend that I know in my home town.
In 1955, nearly all our neighbors moved into brand-new identical tract houses, on GI loans, and their kids grew up around the same time. Most of us did kindergarten through high school together, as people just didn’t move around that much.
Moms usually stayed at home in those days, and because their kitchens faced the street, t
his was a place where you could get in trouble from anyone’s mom, if you were doing something you shouldn’t. However, anyone’s mom would also feed you if you forgot your school lunch money.
When I hugged her goodbye today in front of her house, she said “come see me again soon, before my time is up.” I told her “I’ve been hearing that for 20 years. You’re going to outlive all of us.” She looked around and said “I think I already have.”
